


Keeping It Together

by PrimaBallerina



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Blackmail, Childhood Friends, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Established Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Established Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Friends to Lovers, Hinata Shouyou & Yamaguchi Tadashi Friendship, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical Realism, Non-Consensual Touching, Parental Instinct, Protectiveness, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Tsukkiyama focused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 56,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27652364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrimaBallerina/pseuds/PrimaBallerina
Summary: “Karasuno Volleyball Team. Greetings and welcome! We thank you for your patience, and hope that you are excited to be here. You have all been chosen by your school to participate in a special program that allows you to gain new skills, learn how to function in a professional setting, and make lifelong friendships!......It is important that for the time being you listen carefully to instructions if you want to do well here, but we hope that you will learn many new skills and, of course, just have fun!”The intercom cut abruptly and the boys were left in a room of silence for what seemed like forever until Tanaka interrupted it.“What the hell was that.”For once, Tsukishima and Tanaka held the same sentiment.~They were supposed to be at a training camp. Instead, the Karasuno team finds themselves in an unknown building with strange people who give them cryptic looks and vague answers. They need to find an escape, but for now they must stick together to keep each other safe...and sane.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 138
Kudos: 206





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am so excited to share this fic with you all. Essentially, everything is the same in this universe, except everyone is born with a special ability. These abilities are typically fairly weak, but can be strengthened. 
> 
> My goal is to explore the psychological effects that their captivity has on the players as well as how it affects their relationship with each other. For now, here is an introduction to the story in order to set the stage! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy! <3

Tsukishima should’ve known something was wrong the moment they walked through Nekoma’s school’s doors. 

He wasn’t an empath or anything, but he did have common sense, and seeing about five men and women dressed in what looked like military uniforms upon entering the gymnasium was definitely cause for concern.

Karasuno and about four other schools including Nekoma had been there for a training camp, and they were really only entering the gym to check in for the camp. However, when they entered, the gym was bustling with activity, and they could see some of the other schools going through the check in process, but it certainly didn’t seem to be the usual check in process.

They were confused, but eventually shrugged it off and asked for instructions.

That was their first mistake.

The supposed workers had given them instructions on how to check in, saying that because of rising illness in the area, they were doing a health screening this year. Tsukishima remembers entering the school’s nurse’s office and politely greeting the friendly looking doctor who had asked if he could take a swab of his saliva. The swab left a nasty taste in his mouth, and the doctor giggled apologetically, handing him a small cup of water and apologizing for the “yucky taste” as if he were some six year old patient.

He still doesn’t know whether it was the swab or the water that did it.

Anyhow, all he remembers after that is feeling drowsy and the doctor laying him down gently, asking him if he had a headache. He definitely has a headache now, as he sat up holding his head and groaning.

“What the hell…”

His senses were slowly returning, and he immediately wished hearing hadn’t returned to him. He could hear Noya screaming from nearby, quickly joined by what had to be Hinata’s shrill voice.

“Hey! What’s going on?! Where are we?! Hellooooo!!!”

Tsukishima grimaced but looked around him to see that he was in a large, surprisingly cozy looking room. The only odd thing about it was that it had nine beds and a metal door. And also that it was filled with his volleyball teammates of course.

“Tsukishima! You’re awake!” 

The blonde turned around to find Suga speaking to him with a worried expression.

“Where are we?” Tsukishima groaned quietly.

Suga watched him carefully and sighed as if he had already answered that question a few times, “We don’t know. We all woke up here just like you did. But I think it’s safe to say we’re not at Nekoma anymore.”

Tsukishima went through his memory and came to the conclusion that, yes, that medical screening was probably not the most legitimate of screenings. They had gone by jersey number, so he and Yamaguchi were the last to go-

Yamaguchi.

Quickly, but not obviously, Tsukishima scanned the room and found that in the bed next to his was Yamaguchi, lying limply.

That was also oddly when he noticed that they were all wearing collars.

“Yamaguchi,” he nudged the other’s side, and when he was unresponsive he turned back to Suga, “Is he okay?”

Suga was looking at the freckled boy with concern but simply reached over to brush the hair out of Yamaguchi’s face, replying, “Yeah, I think he’s okay. Everyone was passed out at first. You’ve all just been waking up one by one.”

The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed and he wanted to question him further but was interrupted by a voice sounding on what seemed to be an intercom.

“Karasuno Volleyball Team. Greetings and welcome! We thank you for your patience, and hope that you are excited to be here. You have all been chosen by your school to participate in a special program that allows you to gain new skills, learn how to function in a professional setting, and make lifelong friendships!-”

“-What is this, an internship program…”

“-It is important that for the time being you listen carefully to instructions if you want to do well here, but we hope that you will learn many new skills and, of course, just have fun!”

The intercom cut abruptly and the boys were left in a room of silence for what seemed like forever until Tanaka interrupted it.

...

“What the absolute fuck was that.”

For once, Tsukishima and Tanaka held the same sentiment.

~

As it turns out, what that was was just a taste of the bizarre events they were now enduring.

A few minutes after the intercom had sounded, they heard the door unlatch and a few men and women entered the room. A man with an amiable smile and soft brown eyes stepped to the front and looked over them all. Tsukishima thought he looked a bit like Takeda, but there was something...off.

“Hello, Karasuno. My name is Dr. Akiya. I’m the director of this facility, but I wanted to welcome you all personally for your first day. Later you will get a more in depth tour, but for now I’ll just explain a few things.”

The man had a very soft voice.

“This is your room. You’ll be staying here most nights, and whenever you need to rest. You’ll be shown the cafeteria, gymnasium, and rec room later today, as well as the many facilities and activities that make this place great. For now, however, each of you will be going to our medical center for a quick check up and maybe to answer a few questions.”

Tsukishima didn’t really feel like doing another medical check up considering what happened at the previous one, and by the looks of the other’s faces, neither did they.

“Alright,” the man clapped his hands together lightly, “We’ll start with the youngest and work up. Sooo...Kageyama Tobio! Let’s get started.”

Tsukishima realized why the man’s face looked so off. His eyes were dead.

~

Kageyama had no clue what was happening.

After the man had called his name, he had simply stood up and walked towards the exit, but Daichi had quickly grabbed his wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting my check up?” Kageyama answered simply.

Daichi gave the boy a perplexed look before saying, “Kageyama. We have no idea where we are or what is happening. I don’t think it’s wise to go anywhere until we get some more information.”

Dr. Akiya watched them calmly.

“Don’t you worry yourself, Sawamura Daichi. Check ups are completely routine. It’s more of a get to know you kind of a thing anyways,” he offered conspiratorially.

Daichi turned back towards the doctor and swallowed, considering his next words.

“Well, Dr. Akiya, I don’t think I’m comfortable with you examining my team when we don’t even know where we are or what is happening.”

“I’d expect nothing less from Karasuno’s number one Captain, but I told you why you are here, remember? I also recall mentioning that it is very important to listen carefully to instructions. It’s really more for your safety than ours,” he giggled.

Daichi didn’t know what to do. Everytime this man spoke, the captain couldn’t tell what he actually meant by his words. It was really unfortunate they didn’t have a telepath on their team.

As soon as that thought popped into his head, he came to a decision. Looking directly past Dr. Akiya, he focused on a bookshelf and attempted to inconspicuously shift one of the books.

Dr. Akiya’s eyes never left his. But the smile on his face curled up slightly.

“Sawamura Daichi,” he started almost endearingly, “I really suggest you listen carefully to instructions.” 

After a few moments Daichi swallowed harshly and let go of Kageyama’s wrist. He couldn’t use his ability. The only way he could stop them is in a fight, and he had a feeling there was more of them then there was of him.

He watched helplessly as the people in uniforms left the room, guiding an unperturbed Kageyama with them. 

Which is how Kageyama ended up sitting on a medical table patiently, waiting for Dr. Akiya, who was fiddling with some medical instruments, to speak.

“Alright, so I’m just going to do a few routine tests and ask you a few questions while I’m at it, okay?”

Kageyma nodded.

“Perfect. So, Kageyama Tobio. How old are you?”

“15.”

Dr. Akiya nodded as he shined a light back and forth between Kageyama’s eyes.

“And you’re the setter at Karasuno, correct?”

“Yes.”

“That’s an important role! You must be very good.”

Kageyama didn’t reply.

“Are you taking any medication currently? Inhaler for asthma? Anything like that?”

“No.”

“Okay. I already know from your chart, but what is your ability?”

“I have ability absorption.”

“That’s an interesting one,” Dr. Akiya rolled away in his swivel chair and reached for a device to look in his ears, “Can you absorb multiple or just one at a time?”

“One at a time. It doesn’t completely take away the other’s ability either,” he added, “They slowly gain it back.”

“Ah, I see. Well that’s nice. Not completely taking away another’s ability. Which one do you have currently?”

“Enhanced fine motor skills.”

Dr. Akiya laughed kindly and remarked, “That’s probably a useful one to have as a setter, huh? I see that you're a starter as well! Wow, you must be very good. Considering they already had a setter, correct?”

Kageyama didn’t answer immediately, but eventually muttered, “Yes.”

“Ah right, I see. Sugawara Koushi,” he continued to examine the chart, “A third year? Interesting. Oh! That’s too bad, he won’t be able to play his last year at Karasuno.”

Kageyama’s eyes fell to his lap and he swallowed.

“I certainly hope he’s able to get onto a college team then. That would be truly sad if he never got to play again.”

Kageyama already knew Suga-san couldn’t get onto a college team. 

Dr. Akiya put a band around his arm and began taking his blood pressure.

“The ability to absorb someone else’s ability. That really is an interesting one,” he seemed to ponder absentmindedly, “To take away someone else’s power for yourself.”

“It’s not taking away their power,” Kageyama interrupted, “It’s just...borrowing it.”

“Ah yes, of course, you’re right. Borrowing it. I bet one can do a lot during the time they are recovering, though. Imagine how much you can progress while they are still recovering from the shock that you’ve just taken away their power.”

Kageyama wasn’t sure if they were talking about just his ability anymore. His chest felt heavy.

“While you are using the power that you’ve taken from them to progress in life, they are left with...what? Nothing really, I suppose. Sure, they’ll slowly get it back. But the damage is done, don’t you think? Hm, your blood pressure is rising,” he remarked absentmindedly.

Kageyama swallowed around the strange lump in his throat.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that!” Dr. Akiya laughed softly. Why was his voice so soft? It sounded like a kindergarten teacher’s, or Suga’s when he was helping you with something…

“I think one of the worst things that can happen to a person is to have their ability taken away. What do you think, Tobio? Have you often met people who were worried about their ability being taken away?” 

Crazed eyes and a raised hand flashed through his mind. He never blamed Oikawa-senpai for that.

“Or maybe people who felt you had stolen an ability?”

His middle school team ran through his head. The fallen ball. The abandonment.

“Or maybe,” Dr. Akiya’s voice got impossibly soft and kind, gently inquiring, “Someone who has suffered from their ability being taken away?”

Warm brown eyes and a forgiving smile invaded his mind. 

He never took Suga’s ability, but...he took his place. A place side-by-side with Daichi and Asahi for years. A place he would never have again.

…

No wonder no one wanted to play with him.

A broken sob filled the room and Kageyama wanted to check where it came from, before he realized it was from him.

Slowly tilting his head, Dr. Akiya just observed him with a scrutinizing expression for a few moments, despite Kageyama’s face drooping towards his lap as he fought to hold back the choking sobs. Slowly, the man leaned back and turned back towards the chart before writing something down.

“Thank you, Kageyama. That will be all.”

Kageyama breathed heavily as the hot tears fell over his cheeks.

...what the hell was this place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading! Please leave any questions or comments below <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments on the very first chapter! I am very happy to be able to share the second chapter with you early, and the third chapter will be out shortly! I wanted to let you know as well that from here on the chapters are going to be a bit longer. I have written most of this story already, so I will be updating very frequently :D Anyhow, I hope you enjoy and please leave any questions or comments you have! <3

As Asahi was escorted back into the room, everyone was quiet. He was the last to go through the 'medical check up.' The air in the room had certainly shifted since they all returned, but no one said a word.

Tanaka once again was the one to break the silence.

“Daichi? We need to get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

Daichi had a look of concentration but answered Tanaka, “I agree. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, though. I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now that we can’t use our abilities.”

They had all noticed, but no one wanted to admit to it. 

Asahi spoke up timidly, “I think it’s these collars…”

He reached up to lightly graze the collar, swallowing against the cold material.

“I don’t know what they’re made out of, but they’re impossible to take off.”

Daichi nodded and glanced at Suga.

“Suga,” he sat down next to the other third year, “Can I take a look at your collar?”

Nodding, Suga bared his neck a little to give Daichi better access.

Daichi ran his finger lightly over the material, yet he had no idea what it could be made out of. It probably wasn’t metal, because anyone with a metal manipulation ability could easily take it off, right?

He continued to examine the collar, very carefully turning Suga’s head to see it better. He was barely touching it, though, too afraid of the collar reacting and possibly hurting Suga. All he learned in the end was that they had numbers on the back of their collars, correspondent to their jersey numbers.

The metal shifted under Daichi’s fingers as Suga began to speak, “It could also have been the shot, I suppose. Did you all get a shot too?”

Each of them nodded, many of them wearing worried expressions, unsure of what could have possibly been in that shot.

Noya rubbed his arm where the shot had been injected, exclaiming, “But the guy said it was just a flu shot! It is flu season, and he said it’s important not to spread it since we’re all in close quarters!”

Still, it was clear by the following silence that the majority of them didn’t quite believe it was actually a flu shot.

“Wait!”

They turned their heads towards Hinata, who was sitting with his legs tucked under him on the bed he was assigned.

“We...we were taken at Nekoma, right?” The little redhead questioned, “Does that mean the other teams were taken too?”

They all considered Hinata’s question, realizing that it was indeed possible the others were taken as well.

“Okay,” Daichi began quietly but sternly, “Listen up everyone. We need to find a way out of here. While we’re here, we should-”

A clicking noise sounded from the door once again, meaning the door was about to open. Once it opened, a woman with glasses and a lanyard around her neck entered. 

“Hello, Karasuno. I hope your check ups went well, because now I’d like to begin the tour.”

She seemed pleasant enough, but there was still an intimidating aura that put them all on edge.

“Please follow me,” she gave a small smile.

The team looked between themselves, clearly not wanting to follow the stranger anywhere. Daichi felt a strong sense of protectiveness for them all, but he also realized that if they wanted to escape, they needed to see the layout of the building.

Daichi stood tall and put an encouraging hand on Asahi’s back, gently suggesting he follow his lead. Nervously, Asahi stood as well and waited by Daichi at the door, which made Noya pop up from his bed and run over to them as well.

One by one they followed the woman out into a corridor, taking in their surroundings. Instead of the sterile or tech based enviroment they were for some reason expecting, the walls were a warm beige and the furniture they came across was cozy looking. It was like the difference between a hospital and some sort of rehabilitation center.

There were multiple staff members going about their business as they walked the corridors, but none of them seemed to pay them much mind.

Eventually, they stopped at what was called the cafeteria.

“So here is the cafeteria. This is where you will take all of your meals, three times a day at specific times. We provide excellent nutrition and if you need-”

“Kenma!”

The Karasuno team froze when Hinata screamed the name before following his line of sight to find the Nekoma setter sitting at a table across the cafeteria. 

They found the entire Nekoma team sitting at table eating, and when the team spotted Karasuno their eyes lit up.

“Chibi-chan!” Kuroo yelled, and moved to stand up, but he hesitated for a moment, causing the other team to watch in confusion. 

Slowly, as if remembering something, Kuroo sat back down and returned to his food. He only gave a slight wave to the team before completely disregarding them. Kenma looked anxiously between Kuroo and Karasuno, but also eventually turned back towards his food.

Confused by their actions, Hinata spoke again with slight hurt in his voice, “Why are they...Kenma! Hey, Kenma come here!”

When the setter wouldn’t respond, Hinata let out a noise of frustration and ran towards him, when out of nowhere the boy dropped mid-run and fell to the ground. 

“Hinata!” Suga ran towards the other, kneeling next to him and checking him for injury.

A few of the others also ran over to check on the boy, but Hinata was completely out. It was as if he was just...turned off or something. Suga held the first year close and gently said his name, worry evident in his voice. His fear caused him to panic, and he was about to cry for help, when suddenly Hinata’s eyes swiftly blinked open and he sat up as if nothing had happened.

“What...what happened? Why are we on the ground?”

Daichi tore his eyes away to glare at the woman only to find that she was watching them with disinterest.

Eventually, she spoke, commenting, “Now you know what happens when you don’t follow instructions. You understand, right? Let’s try to learn from our mistakes.”

The group watched her in disbelief, but when her lips quirked upwards almost imperceptibly, Noya lost whatever restraint he had.

“You...you asshole! What did you do?! What are these collars! What the hell is wrong with you! I’m gonna…” the small teenager lunged at the woman, definitely intending harm, but not only did his collar go off, he was also detained by two workers who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Hey! Let him go!” Tanaka ran towards the workers to get at Noya, but his collar also went off. Suga knelt down next to him to see if he was alright, while Asahi decided to approach the workers as well. However, before he moved Daichi put a hand on his shoulder, knowing that he would suffer the same fate as the other three.

Noya’s tiny figure was thrown over a shoulder and carried out of the cafeteria much to the horror of his teammates, but as much as they wanted to go after him, they knew they would also just get rendered unconscious as well and be unable to help.

As Noya faded in the distance, the team felt an even stronger anger than before, and glared as much as possible at the woman. What was going on? How were they able to just turn them on and off like a light switch?

Uncaring eyes met theirs as she simply observed the event. They wanted to scream. Demand answers. Demand freedom. Instead all they received were two passive eyes and one reiteration:

“Let’s try to learn from our mistakes.”

~

Instead of being returned to the room like they expected, the entire team minus Noya was brought to a room with a circle of chairs and instructed to take a seat. The lack of answers was infuriating, but they just listened to the instructions, unable to do anything else. A man was already sitting in one of the chairs and was gently waving them over to sit down.

“Hello, hello, welcome,” he greeted them as they filed in and took their seats.

“My name is Dr. Hishino,” he began, folding his hands in his lap, “I’m a counselor here, as well as an instructor. In light of today’s events, I thought it best that we have a sort of test run of how these sessions will go.”

Suga and Daichi gave each other subtle but nerve-filled looks.

“Usually, every so often we have you join a session of some sort, so we know what you’re struggling with and how we can help! It’s a great way to release any thoughts that are on your mind as well. Sometimes they will be group sessions, other times they won’t. It just depends. Well, then why don’t we get started.”

Taking out a notepad, the doctor turned through the pages before clicking a pen and stating, “I want us to do a little ice breaker. I’m going to ask a few questions, okay? Sugawara Koushi, let’s start with you.”

Suga schooled his expression into impassivity, even though he kind of felt like screaming.

“How do you feel about your healing abilities? What do you think it brings to the team?”

The third year shuffled nervously and glanced at Daichi, but eventually answered, “Well, um, I’m grateful for it I suppose. Whenever someone on the team gets hurt, I can help them. Even if it’s just a little.”

The doctor nodded, replying, “And what about you Sawamura Daichi? How do you feel about Sugawara’s abilities?”

Daichi looked confused for a moment, unsure why he was being asked that, but confidently answered, “Suga is indispensable. He’s helped us more times than I can count.”

“Very interesting, and what do you think about Kageyama Tobio’s ability? Do you think it is useful to the team?”

Daichi hesitated, again wondering why he was being asked this, but answered, “Of course.”

“Kageyama Tobio,” Dr. Hishino quickly switched the conversation over to the younger setter, not even looking up from his notepad, “What are your feelings on Hinata Shoyou’s ability?”

Kageyama seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts as he looked in confusion around the room, finally answering, “Hinata’s ability? It’s...useful.”

“He can teleport, correct? That is a very useful talent. Is he very good at it in your opinion?”

“Um, well not really.”

Hinata glared at the dark-haired boy, “Oi! Kageyama you jerk!”

“What? It’s true. You can never teleport to the places that you want, and you’re so slow at it too.”

Hinata was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, telling signs he was about to start a fight with the other boy. Surprisingly, though, the doctor was the one to interrupt them.

“Don’t worry, Hinata. That’s something we can work on.”

The orange haired boy forgot about his fight with Kageyama in seconds and whipped his head towards the doctor, “What? Wait, really?”

“Of course. Remember that I said I was also an instructor? Well, part of my job is to teach students how to improve their abilities. So I’m sure I’ll see a few of you in sessions occasionally.”

“What?! That’s...that’s so cool!” Hinata yelled.

Dr. Hishino smiled, “Thank you. It is wonderful to see how much students can improve their abilites. Sometimes it’s astonishing how talented they become!”

Hinata looked absolutely intrigued, yet the doctor quickly moved on to his next question. 

“Let’s see, who else...Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

All attention turned towards the freckled boy who tensed up immediately.

Dr. Hishino flipped through his notepad, looking increasingly confused as he pondered, “Your ability is...wait, why can’t I-”

“He doesn’t have an ability.”

The voice of Tsukishima Kei interrupted the doctor’s musings, causing everyone to glance at the tall blonde.

Dr. Hishino looked between the blonde and the freckled boy before closing the notebook, inquiring, “Is that so? That’s...very rare. He was born with no ability?”

Tsukishima didn’t answer, just continuing to stare at the doctor. Yamaguchi on the other hand was looking down at his hands, refusing to meet the doctors eyes.

Everyone on the team knew Yamaguchi had no ability. They didn’t mind, because he was a hard worker. But unbeknownst to the team, except Tsukishima, Yamaguchi suffered bullying when he was younger for various things including his lack of ability, and because of that still had a difficult time letting others know about the fact.

“No ability, huh? Now we’re getting somewhere.”

Dr. Hishino put down his notebook completely and leaned forward in his seat, locking eyes on Yamaguchi.

“So, Yamaguchi Tadashi. How do you feel about your lack of ability?”

The freckled boy swallowed and curled into himself slightly. Tsukishima was watching him closely out of the corner of his eye. When he finally spoke, it was in his usual soft higher pitched voice, but there was more nervousness than usual, “I...I-I don’t know. I was born this way, so I don’t know.”

“Do you ever wish you had an ability?” The doctor pushed.

“I don’t...I don’t know? I don’t have one, but I work hard, so I think it’s okay…”

“Are you a starter on your team?”

Yamaguchi froze.

“....no.”

Dr. Hishino took no pause to ask his next question, “And why do you think that is?”

“Hey,” the discussion was interrupted by Suga, who was nervous about speaking up, but seeing the boy, who he stood on the sidelines with everyday, fighting back tears hit him hard, “Why are you asking him that? Yamaguchi is a valuable member. End of story.”

Sitting back in his seat, Dr. Hishino finally took his eyes off of Yamaguchi and returned to his notebook. Yamaguchi still refused to look up from his lap, but next to him Hinata lightly rubbed his back and in return Yamaguchi gave him a little smile.

“I apologize. I meant no harm,” the doctor commented, “But it’s important to be as honest as possible during these sessions, otherwise there’s not much point to it, is there?”

For the rest of the session, they were pretty quiet. Only answering questions when asked, and the answers they gave were vague and unimportant. Eventually, they were released and told they would have solo sessions as well as group sessions periodically, which no one was really looking forward to.

The dinner at the cafeteria was awkward. Karasuno stayed abnormally huddled together and glanced nervously at the other students in the cafeteria. They didn’t recognize any of them this time, which only made them feel even more nervous and homesick. With Kageyama on his other side, Suga sat next to Yamaguchi and made sure he ate enough, occasionally leaning over to punch Tsukishima’s arm if the blonde was fiddling with his food too much instead of eating it. 

Hinata was sitting between Tanaka and Asahi, constantly glancing at the two to make sure they were still there. No one said it, but they knew he wanted their presence because Noya was still gone.

Daichi sat on the other side of Asahi, watching his team with a mix of emotions. He felt unbelievably sad that they were all trapped here, but he also felt anger. Obviously anytime his team got hurt he felt some sort of anger, but this felt so much more...degrading. And confusing. They were completely at the mercy of whatever this place was. It wouldn’t help them to get angry, though, so he resolved to think about the situation calmly to find a way to escape. After all, they had seen much of the building today, and that was already a step in the right direction.

When they were all returned to the room, it was eerily quiet. Tanaka and Noya weren’t fighting, instead Tanaka laid down in his bed and closed his eyes without a word. Hinata wasn’t singing some tune he made up or annoying Tsukishima before bed. There wasn’t even the quiet conversation of Daichi and Suga to comfort them.

The silence held in it a feeling of hopelessness. Which is why when they heard the soft crying noises of Hinata, it was almost relieving.

Daichi was the first to approach Hinata and gather him into a hug, softly shushing him and petting his wild hair.

“Shhh, it’s okay Hinata. It’s all going to be okay. We’re here.”

Hinata fisted his hands into the front of Daichi’s shirt and pressed himself closer. Suga watched them with a heavy heart, desperately wanting to stop Hinata’s tears and take him to a safe place far, far away. For now though, he made the decision to grab some pillows and blankets and scatter them on the floor.

The others watched Suga’s actions with interest, until the older boy said, “Here, why don’t we have a sleepover? Grab your pillows and blankets and lay them down.”

There was hesitance at first, but Asahi felt responsible as a third year to help Suga in his attempt to comfort them (and honestly he needed the comfort himself), so he grabbed his pillow and blanket and helped Suga lay out some more on the floor. Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukishima to see the taller boy’s reaction, but when the blonde didn’t move he eventually made his own decision and grabbed his pillow and blanket to lay them down next to the others.

Once all the pillows and blankets were laid down, they had a nice pillowfort-esque layout and one-by-one snuggled into the pile of blankets and pillows. Tsukishima seemed reluctant, but once Yamaguchi snuggled in and looked up at him with his big eyes, he gave in and set his pillow and blanket next to the other boy. For some reason the empty space next to Yamaguchi, which left him on the outside of the pile, had made Tsukishima uneasy, and he felt better after he created a barrier between the freckled boy and the rest of the room. The blonde usually kept to himself and didn’t openly show anything that might indicate he has actual feelings, but ever since they arrived he’s been sticking even closer to Yamaguchi, making sure he was safe and even comforting him occasionally.

The group eventually settled in and wrapped themselves in blankets. At first, they all kept a respectable distance between each other, happy to just be next to each other, but as they got more comfortable they ended up in one pile of blankets and wayward limbs. Kageyama had tried to keep his own little section to himself, but Suga had somehow pushed him further into the pile and Hinata had a leg thrown across his chest. It was purely by magic that Tsukishima only suffered one flailing Yamaguchi arm.

They might not have been at the training camp, but at least like this they could pretend. All they could do is get some sleep, and try not to think about what might happen to them tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and stay safe! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Despite there being no windows in the room, Suga woke up by his internal clock. He stretched and yawned until he heard a noise of discontent next to him, looking down to see a sleeping Kageyama wrapped around him.

He smiled at the grumpy expression the setter wore even in his sleep. He ran a thumb over the furrowed brow, trying to rub out the crease, when he heard the door to their room click. His stomach clenched from nervousness, unsure of what to expect, but when the door opened, he was happily surprised to see Nishinoya entering the room.

“Noya!” Suga sat up to embrace the small libero, but Noya had already sprinted towards the group and jumped onto the pile of bodies and blankets.

Multiple groans filled the room as they were rudely awoken by the weight of a small teenager jumping on top of them, but when they saw who it was, it was laughter that filled the room.

“Noya! Bro I missed you so much!” Tanaka yelled with tears in his eyes. He tackled the smaller teen and they began wrestling in the pile of blankets. He was only gone for one night, but it took its toll on the team.

Laughter filled the room as they embraced, the only one not joining in being Tsukishima who somehow miraculously transported to his bed where he was folding blankets...and Kageyama didn’t have a choice since he was currently at the bottom of the hugging pile.

They asked Noya question after question about where they took him and what happened, but his answer surprised them. Instead of some type of punishment, Noya had been taken to a comfortable room and given dinner. They told him to cool off and that he would be released in the morning. It was strange. 

But no one wanted to question it, as long as Noya hadn’t gotten hurt.

With Noya back, the team’s spirit had raised considerably, to the point where they were even slightly grateful to be brought to the cafeteria for breakfast. 

However, it wasn’t enough to stop the feeling of apprehension that came when a woman in a suit approached their table to tell them they would be starting classes today.

“Classes?”

Sharp eyes turned towards Hinata after he asked the question, replying, “Yes, your ability classes! Did we not tell you that you’d be learning ways to enhance your abilities? Well, now is the time! I promise they are a lot of fun.”

Slowly, the team followed the woman to a series of rooms, which oddly looked...pretty much like basic classrooms. At least from the outside. Before they entered the room, though, the woman spoke again.

“Alright. Third years, you will be on this floor in room 108, second years on floor two in room 205, and first years on the third floor in room 310.”

“Wait,” Suga pushed to the front of the group, “You’re splitting us up?”

“Only by your year, different ages require different needs after all,” she reasoned, continuing, “Don’t worry, sometimes you’ll even have personal training sessions. It’s all normal.”

Suga looked very worried, running his eyes over the group as if he could keep them close simply by keeping them within his eyesight. 

But he couldn’t, and eventually they were split up and moved to their respective rooms.

~

“Good morning, and welcome to your first lesson.”

It wasn’t Dr. Hishino, but instead another man dressed in a simple cardigan and slacks who greeted the first years as they entered the unexpectedly large room, which didn’t contain desks and a chalkboard like they were expecting. Instead the room was mostly empty, with only four chairs, a desk, and surprisingly a few volleyballs. 

Hinata and Kageyama had never liked class more.

“You can all take a seat. How are you doing?”

Each of the first years took a seat and looked around the room without responding.

“What we’re going to be doing today is very simple. Just a little test. Think of it as a pop quiz.”

Hinata and Kageyama no longer liked this class.

“Let’s begin by thinking about human abilities. As I’m sure you know, humans used to be incredibly gifted in all sorts of abilities with astounding strength. As time passed, we used these abilities less and less to give us the results we have today: humans with weaker abilities. Yet, it is possible with extreme dedication and strength of will to improve these abilities.

"So, you all play volleyball, correct? Well, how about we test out your skills. Kageyama Tobio, would you please set this ball to this dot, and Hinata Shoyou would you please use your ability to receive it.”

“They can’t,” Tsukishima, who had remained silent since breakfast this morning, finally commented dryly, “Your collars make it a bit difficult.”

The man slowly glanced over to Tsukishima and smirked, replying, “I think you’ll find they can.”

The man lifted up one of the volleyballs and gestured for Kageyama to come get it. They were still unsure of quite a few things, but the freak duo would never say no to volleyball. Still, Hinata had never been the best with his ability. Like Kageyama said, he often showed up in a completely different spot, or it took far too long for him to show up at all. Maybe he actually could improve while they were here.

Kageyama took the ball from the man’s hand and waited for Hinata to get into position. As Kageyama set it, he felt the familiar tingle in his fingertips from his ability, and watched the ball lift from his fingers like he had a million times before. Yet, this time as he set the ball, it felt different. Sure, he usually set the ball extremely accurately and fast, but even he could feel that this set was going to be faster than he had ever done. Even so, he let the familiarity of setting the ball wash over him and it almost felt like they were just practicing, but then there was another big difference. Within the blink of an eye, Hinata reappeared in the perfect spot to receive Kageyama’s set; which he had done before, but never even close to as quickly. But what was even more startling, was that while Hinata had always jumped high, this was almost inhuman.

The ball smacked to the ground so forcefully it sounded like a gunshot, causing Yamaguchi to flinch in his chair. The silence that followed was deafening.

At first, no one said anything, the only movement being the smirk of their so-called teacher. Then, Hinata finally registered what just happened.

“That...was so cool! Oh my gosh Kageyama! Did you see that?! When I moved it felt like _woosh_ , and then I hit it like _wham_! Ah! Yamaguchi did you see?!”

Yamaguchi was still gaping at what he just saw, but slowly nodded.

Hinata continued his exclamation of awe and unusual noises, and the teacher finally laughed openly and clapped Hinata on the back good naturedly.

“That was really good, Hinata! You certainly put some strength into that one! It felt good, huh?”

Hinata nodded excitedly.

“Kageyama, what about you? Did it feel good?”

Kageyama still looked shocked by what happened, but looked down at his hands and slowly nodded. Turning towards the two remaining teenagers in chairs, the man zeroed in on Tsukishima.

“Would you like to try now, Tsukishima Kei?”

The blonde leveled a bored look at the man, but stood up from his seat to head where the man gestured. Yamaguchi spared a worried expression, looking like he wanted to reach out to Tsukishima, but stopped himself.

“What I want you to do Tsukishima,” the man began, “Is very simple. Just stop the ball. Kageyama is going to hit the ball towards you, and I want you to block it from hitting you. Ready?”

Kageyama went to one end of the room and spun the ball in his hands, then he threw the ball up high, clearly going for a jump serve. Yamaguchi gulped, knowing just how deadly those jump serves were. Yet he also knew how talented Tsukki was. His ability allowed him to manipulate the geothermal field, or essentially create force-fields. Yamaguchi knew the other was gifted, but creating a complete barrier that can block the force of one of Kageyama’s serves? That was far more advanced than any human he’d ever seen.

As Kageyama’s hand smacked the ball with incredible strength, Tsukishima barely moved an inch. With just the swift flick of his wrist, the ball came to a complete stop, but not due to any shield in front of Tsukishima himself. Instead, the blonde had created a complete barrier around the ball, freezing it in the air for a few moments.

He let the ball drop unceremoniously and sat back down in his seat. 

“You never said how I should block it.”

The teacher surveyed the bored looking teen, erring on the side of intrigued, before a smirk spread across his face and he uttered one word.

“Excellent.”

It went like that for a while.

Hinata, Kageyama, and Tsukishima practiced the limits of their abilities. Tossing and spiking and blocking. It was incredible to see what they could do. Before they came here, Tsukishima could only create an imperceptible barrier strong enough to create a slight space of geothermal force, which gave his blocks a little extra strength. Now, he was creating complete shields. Even around _other_ objects. That kind of advancement was impossible, even after a lifetime of training. Still, watching them apply their abilities was astonishing.

But Yamaguchi didn’t quite understand why he was there.

He didn’t have any abilities, so what was the point of having him sit in the ability sessions? He had stayed in his seat the entire time and watched the other three test their skills. The teacher didn’t even talk to him once throughout the entire lesson. He just didn’t understand why he was there.

When the teacher announced that they were finished, the other three seemed slightly out of breath but otherwise in great shape. Hinata, however, was practically glowing. He was vibrating with excitement from the session, and couldn’t stop smiling as he looked down at his hands as if he could see some physical evidence of his new strength.

After they were directed to the cafeteria for lunch, Hinata was still looking as excited as ever while he ate, but made a noise of discontent.

“Agh!”

Yamaguchi turned to him questioningly, “What is it Hinata?”

“I can’t use my ability again!”

Tsukishima interjected, muttering, “Obviously. They’re not just going to let you use them whenever.”

Yamaguchi looked down in thought, “How can they control when you can or cannot use your ability?”

“It’s something to do with the collars,” Tsukishima replied, “They control us using the collars.”

Yamaguchi ran a hand over his own collar. Oh.

The second and third years were still not with them, so it was just those four eating lunch at a small circular table. When Hinata tried to steal some food off of Kageyama’s plate and the dark haired boy retaliated with a fist in his hair, Yamaguchi let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and let the sound of their bickering wash over him in relaxing waves. Normally their fighting would make him tense, but right now it was oddly comforting, since it was one of the only familiar things about this place. 

He didn’t get to enjoy that comfort for long though, because once they all finished their meals and cleared off their plates, a rather young looking woman approached them and addressed him.

“Yamaguchi Tadashi, you have an appointment with Dr. Hishino. Please follow me and I’ll escort you to his office.”

All of his muscles tensed when Yamaguchi heard the woman’s instructions. He wanted to be brave, but the idea of being separated from the others terrified him. If he couldn’t go home, then he just wanted to go back into the room with Tsukki and pretend they were all safe for just a moment.

Yamaguchi swallowed painfully and subconsciously fingered the ends of Tsukki’s shirt. When he realized what he was doing he stopped, but he couldn’t tear himself away from Tsukki’s side. The other boy was watching him out of the corner of his eyes, not moving away but not moving any closer either. When the woman repeated herself, sounded a bit impatient, Yamaguchi thought about the collar around his neck and stumbled forward. 

Before he completely pulled away, though, he swore he felt Tsukki’s hand brush his lower back. 

He fell in step with the woman, and felt proud of himself for only looking back once, finding all three of his teammates watching him. They walked the corridors, Yamaguchi curiously taking in his surroundings, before arriving at what he assumed was Dr. Hishino’s office.

The woman opened the door for him and he timidly entered the room, finding Dr. Hishino sitting in an armchair. 

“Yamaguchi Tadashi, come on in. Here, you can sit right here,” the doctor greeted and gestured to another armchair adjacent to his own.

The teen took a seat and squeezed his knees together with his hands in his lap. He was nervous.

“Yamaguchi, I want to apologize for pressing you too much in our last session. Those kinds of questions are better suited for personal sessions and not in front of your teammates, so I really do apologize. Also, sometimes these discussions can be a bit heavy, but it is truly important for your progress.”

Yamaguchi’s head was tipped downwards, but he summoned the courage to meet the doctor’s eyes. He registered that the doctor was fairly young, probably around Coach Ukai’s age, as well as handsome and wore glasses.

“Now, why don’t we just talk about your day so far. How were the ability lessons?”

Looking for an answer, Yamaguchi scanned the flawless dark hardwood floor contrasted with the white of the slip-on shoes they had left him in the room. He managed to answer, “They were good. My friends did some really amazing things.”

Dr. Hishino nodded attentively, responding, “That’s wonderful! Did you enjoy it?”

“I…” he tried to think of how to respond, “It was really cool to watch.”

“You mean the instructor didn’t have you join? Not even just to help?”

The freckled boy shook his head slowly, curious about what the other was thinking.

“That must’ve been pretty hurtful. I’m sure you wanted to join your friends, even if you don’t have an ability.”

Well...he wasn’t exactly _wrong_. It would’ve been nice to be able to play with them. He could’ve hit a ball for Tsukki, or even just collected the volleyballs and handed them back. But the teacher didn’t even talk to him.

“I’ll talk to them for you, see if we can get you more involved, yeah?” Dr. Hishino continued, “This leads me to my next question, what do you do on your volleyball team?”

“I’m-I’m a pinch server.”

“Interesting, could you explain what that is to me? I’m afraid I don’t know much about volleyball.”

Yamaguchi described what the position was, explaining the different serves, and Dr. Hishino listened closely.

“Oh, okay I see. That’s a lot of pressure! But probably very satisfying when done well. Do you like playing with your friends Yamaguchi?”

Yamaguchi thought the question was a little odd, since of course he liked playing with his friends. That’s partially why he worked so hard, because he wanted to join them on the court and be a part of the team. The starters got to spend so much time together, he always thought it would be nice to be a part of that closeness.

He didn’t know at what point he started voicing these thoughts out loud, but Dr. Hishino clearly thought his response interesting.

“That makes sense. You want to be a part of the team. I bet you want to make them proud too.”

It wasn’t a question, but Yamaguchi felt the need to reply with a quiet, “Yeah.”

A few moments of silence passed as Dr. Hishino watched him in thought. Finally, he spoke, saying, “What if I told you that it’s possible for you to build an ability?”

Yamaguchi’s head shot up from where he had been staring down at his lap.

“W-what?”

“Yes. If you keep working hard and attend ability lessons, we can help you develop an ability into something really substantial.”

“But...how?” The teen questioned in astonishment.

“The same way the others. Practice.”

Yamaguchi didn’t quite understand what that meant, but just looked back down at his lap in thought.

“Tadashi,” Dr. Hishino began warmly, “You are very special.”

Yamaguchi’s head shot up in surprise at the words.

“I know you were probably told you weren’t special your whole life, but that’s not true. Abilities are unique, but perseverance is even more so. Everything you need to succeed is already there. You can make your friends proud, and more importantly, you can make yourself proud. Just trust in yourself.”

The freckled teen gaped as he took in the words of the other. What did he mean? How was he special? His mom had said his freckles made him special once, but other than that, he had never heard that word applied to him. 

He wanted to ask what he meant, but Dr. Hishino just closed his notes and stood up, announcing, “Let’s just leave it at this today. I know it was a short session, but you have a lot to think about. Is that alright with you?”

Yamaguchi caught up with what the other man was saying and nodded, standing up himself, “Y-yeah...that’s okay.”

“Great,” Dr. Hishino smiled kindly, “Think about all that I said, Tadashi. Especially the last part. I’ll see you next time, okay?”

Nervously fiddling with his fingers, Yamaguchi gave a few quick nods and Dr. Hishino guided him to the exit, running a gentle hand down his arm.

When the door was closed, Yamaguchi was left with his own thoughts. He had far too many to mule over, but the one that surprised him the most was that he found the session to be kind of...refreshing? He didn’t really have anyone else to talk to about his place on the team.

And Dr. Hishino wasn’t as unnerving as he expected him to be. 

He kind of reminded him of Shimida-san.

~

After Yamaguchi was taken away to his appointment, another staff member approached Tsukishima, telling him he had an appointment as well.

The tall boy was still thinking about Yamaguchi’s expression as he walked away, but Tsukishima’s face revealed nothing when he lazily surveyed the staff member before following them without a word. Hinata glanced nervously between the blonde and the staff member, but otherwise could do nothing else.

Now, he found himself sitting in front of a large desk where a middle-aged woman with hair pulled neatly back into a bun was sat.

“Good afternoon, Tsukishima Kei. How have you been adjusting here?”

“Fine.” 

The woman wasn’t disturbed at all by his monotone voice, continuing, “I heard that you did very well in ability lessons. Was it fun?”

The question made him want to scoff, but instead Tsukishima tilted his head, causing his glasses to flash, responding, “I found it interesting that you’re able to control our abilities using these collars.”

Smiling, the woman answered, “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes.”

It seemed clear that she was expecting him to elaborate more, so Tsukishima obliged.

“I’m sure you noticed while creating them, but whenever someone leans forwards, the space in the back of the collar shows a tiny light that blinks once when the collar is activated.”

He could tell the woman was surprised to some degree by his comment, but her expression morphed into one of satisfaction.

“Very observant. I’m sure you understand why we must take such precautions. With abilities as powerful as all of yours, it would be irresponsible to leave them completely unconstrained before you even know how to properly use them.”

The blonde continued to observe the woman, smugly answering, “I’m not complaining. I don’t exactly relish the idea of Hinata being left unconstrained with enhanced abilities anyways."

She laughed at his response, giving him a once over before adding, “I’m glad you understand. What about your own?”

“What about them?” he quickly retorted.

“Don’t you trust in your own potential to use an enhanced ability? You seem to have intelligence, rationality, and restraint, so wouldn’t you be a great candidate to use these abilities?”

Tsukishima scrutinized the woman. He knew this was all a mind game. He knew she was just trying to get something out of him. Well, he might as well play along.

“I’m under no impression that these enhanced abilities are controlled in any sense of the word. And I’m not foolish enough to think that I’ll be any different.”

The woman pondered his answer, looking for an answer that Tsukishima knew wouldn’t be there. If they wanted to mess with his head, then they would have to do it on a medical table under a bright light and surgical tools. There was nothing Tsukishima was good at if not putting on a poker face. That and getting underneath other people’s skin.

But instead of the stoic face or further questioning that he expected, the woman seemed...enlightened? As if she had come to a solution, but was surprised by the answer. Of course, her face barely showed any of this. She was good at hiding her thoughts, same as everyone here was, but Tsukishima knew how to read people when he was so inclined.

“It’s always good to know our limitations. To know that we aren’t the exception. Still, though, just because we know the limitations doesn’t mean they can’t be changed. If you are reaching for something on a high shelf, but your range limits you from touching it, does that mean you can never reach it? Or does it mean you just need to get a stepping stool?”

Tsukishima blinked.

“Perhaps we found a stepping stool. What do you think, Tsukishima Kei?”

She leveled a gaze on him that he found difficult to look away from. As she spoke, her words were clear and concise. She made everything sound so reasonable. When she spoke again, it was with a promising glint in her eyes.

“...would you like to know more about how it works?”

~

The day had finally ended, and every single one of them were in agreement that it was one of the longest of their lives. It was late at night (presumably, they didn’t exactly have clocks or even windows to tell them otherwise) and they had all been returned to the room where they were now gathered in the pile of blankets and pillows they had laid out on the floor. Sometime during the day, someone had returned all their blankets and pillows to their beds and straightened everything up, but that didn’t discourage them from simply bringing them all back down to the floor.

Currently, they were discussing the seemingly impossible events that took place that day. It became clear that the first years, minus Yamaguchi, were not the only ones who now had enhanced abilities. It was worrying to most of them, but they couldn’t deny the slight excitement as well. To be able to do what they did today was a miracle, but then again, that sort of made it even more frightening.

“How is it possible?”

Asahi asked this after everyone had relayed all they had done that day. The group silently thought about the question. It shouldn’t be possible. No one can advance their abilities that much that quickly. They said they would teach them to improve their abilities, but this was a completely different level. It wasn’t possible. They would’ve had to have done some sort of crazy experimentation on them or cut them open or-

Wait. The shot. The 'flu shot.'

Could it really have been that tiny injection that enhanced their abilities that much? None of them had ever heard of anything like that before. The closest the world had to that was performance enhancing drugs, and even those only made the smallest of differences, not to mention they were obviously illegal.

Surprisingly, it was Hinata who was the first to voice this theory, exclaiming, “It could have been the shot, right? I remember when I got mine, it felt weird because there was barely even a sting. Usually I hate shots, but it didn’t hurt at all!”

The group nodded their consideration of the idea, Daichi replying, “It could have been that. I can’t remember them doing anything else to us that might have done it, other than the collars, but we’re pretty sure that the collars are just to control our abilities…”

“And knock us out,” Noya grumbled angrily.

Daichi gave a displeased expression at the memory, but nodded in agreement.

It was odd. The people didn’t seem all that dangerous here. They were weird as hell, sure, but the majority of the staff with a few exceptions were easygoing and helpful. They gave them fresh clothing that morning (and would probably continue doing that everyday), provided the with as much food as they wanted, and even cleaned their room while they were out doing lessons? Why? If they wanted to kidnap them and make them into their little slaves who follow their every order, why were they doing all of this? They could easily just torture them into doing whatever they wanted.

Daichi was brought out of his contemplation by Hinata’s high-pitched voice, which was unusually quiet.

“I wanna go home…”

Before Daichi could respond, Suga scooted over to sit by Hinata, wrapping an arm around him and replying, “I know, Hinata, we all do. This situation could be worse, but it’s still not fun.”

Yamaguchi watched the interaction and subconsciously leaned closer to Tsukishima. He wanted to go home too, but more than that he just wanted some comfort. Surprisingly, Tsukishima must have noticed his slight shift, because he glanced down at Yamaguchi before tugging the blanket the shorter boy had draped over him just a tiny bit higher. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to Yamaguchi.

“Come on Daichi!” Tanaka interrupted the quiet with his indignant cry, “This is ridiculous, let’s just break out of here! Everyone here looks like a nerd, we can totally take ‘em.”

“Tanaka,” Daichi began patiently, “We can’t just attack them and break out. It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?! As far as I’ve seen, they can’t do shit. Only Noya got in trouble that one time, and they didn’t even punish him! I bet if we just made a run for it, we could get out.”

The idea was met with a thoughtful silence, until Asahi spoke up, “He has a point...other than the collars, we haven’t actually been outright threatened or punished. Maybe we _could_ just leave if we caught them by surprise.”

But Daichi wasn’t convinced, replying, “Listen, I _promise_ you we will leave eventually. But we can’t forget that we were kidnapped. We’re being held here against our will with collars around our throats. It’s safer to find a stealthy way to escape rather than potentially start a fight. We don’t actually know what these people can do.”

Tanaka was begrudgingly pacified by Daichi’s reasoning, along with the rest of the team, realizing that their best bet on escaping was probably only to come through careful planning.

They would get out of there. No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the responses last chapter! I'm very happy you are all enjoying this, and I really hope you enjoy the coming chapters! <3


	4. Chapter 4

They were building a routine.

The thought would have been frightening, if any of them had noticed it, but they were too occupied by their new daily life to pay much attention. That morning everyone got up like usual when the bell chimed over the intercom, and proceeded to get ready for the day. 

Noya always woke up fastest, shooting out of bed and immediately jumping onto Asahi’s. It wasn’t Asahi’s number one preferred method of waking up, but it was far from the worst. 

After that was usually Daichi and Suga, who often had the task of waking up the others. Tanaka clearly heard the bell ringing over the intercom, but always pulled the covers over his head and pretended to not exist. One well aimed slap on the ass from Suga usually did the trick of waking him up though. Daichi nudged Kageyama to wake him up, who sleepily blinked himself awake, and still half asleep he robotically walked to the large attached bathroom to brush his teeth. It was pretty endearing honestly. 

All Daichi had to do at that point is nudge Hinata and say, “Kageyama’s going to brush his teeth faster than you,” to get Hinata tripping over his blankets in his rush to get to the bathroom.

Daichi watched the pair with a fond smile, shaking his head and turning towards the last of the first years. Tsukishima didn’t have any issue waking up himself, but Yamaguchi, on the other hand, slept like the dead. Yet, Daichi left the task of waking him up to Tsukishima. He had noticed that Tsukishima was acting a bit more protective of the other since they came here, even if it was so subtle that your average person wouldn’t have noticed it at all. But he saw it mostly in the way Tsukishima was always watching the freckled boy, and how if Yamaguchi stood just a little too closely, Tsukishima would lean in almost imperceptibly. 

The taller boy had put on his glasses and was currently adjusting his blankets before he turned towards the sleeping boy. Yamaguchi was squeezing a pillow, like usual, and his hair was completely splayed across his face. Tsukishima waited for Suga to finish aggressively rubbing Tanaka’s head before they filtered into the bathroom with everyone else, leaving the two first years the only ones left in the room.

Turning back towards Yamaguchi, Tsukishima observed the sleeping boy for a few moments, watching his chest slowly rise and fall. Yamaguchi always slept so deeply, and always held his pillow close. Slowly, and so gently there was no way the other boy would be able to feel it, he moved a few strands out of Yamaguchi’s face, revealing a smattering of freckles. His hand lingered for just a moment, before retreating so quickly it was as if it were never there.

“Yamaguchi, time to wake up,” he voiced softly.

He didn’t move a muscle, but Tsukishima didn’t really expect him to. 

“Yamaguchi, come on, it’s time to wake up,” he repeated, this time shaking Yamaguchi’s shoulder a little until the sleeping boy began to stir.

Yamaguchi squeezed his pillow in one last attempt to remain unconscious, before sleepily opening his eyes and finding Tsukishima sitting next to him. 

“Tsukki?” he asked drowsily with eyes half-lidded.

Tsukishima spared him the tiniest of smiles, “Come on, we need to get ready.”

Yamaguchi rubbed his eyes before sitting up still holding his pillow. A crash and following yells sounded from the bathroom and Tsukishima sighed before rubbing his own eyes tiredly.

Yamaguchi giggled sleepily, which even to someone like Tsukishima had to be the most pure thing he had ever heard, before suggesting, “Maybe we should wait until a few of them finish?”

Smirking, Tsukishima nodded his agreement and headed over to the closet that was set aside for the first years. He gathered some clothes in the drawer labeled for himself that alarmingly fit him perfectly, which he didn’t like to ponder too much, before grabbing some for Yamaguchi and throwing them on the other’s bed.

He was slipping on the shirt he grabbed when he heard a snicker behind him. Turning around, he eyed Yamaguchi who was innocently sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“...what?” the blonde asked suspiciously.

Yamaguchi grinned, replying, “That’s an interesting new way to wear a shirt, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima looked down at his shirt to find that it was not only inside out, but also backwards. He glared at the shirt while Yamaguchi giggled on the bed, before grabbing the clothes he got for Yamaguchi off his bed and heading back to the closet.

“Oh no, Yamaguchi, I can’t seem to find any clothes for you,” the taller boy said with faux concern.

“Nooo Tsukki, wait~” Yamaguchi called laughing and stumbled off the bed to get his clothes back, “I need those!”

Tsukishima didn’t put up any fight as Yamaguchi grabbed the clothes from his hands and ran back to the bed, protectively hiding them under his blankets. The blonde couldn’t stop the small smile that came across his face as he watched the display, half-heartedly throwing a pair of socks at Yamaguchi before returning to dressing.

They dressed in silence and chatted quietly on their beds afterwards until some of the others left the bathroom.

The days could be hard for them. At least they could make mornings a bit more bearable.

~

Morning classes commenced as usual with the first, second, and third years splitting up into their respective classrooms. They had already been here for a week, but time seemed to pass differently here. Everything moved so fast. Or maybe it just stood still. Either way, one thing that has definitely progressed is their abilities. After that first day, it seemed that their abilities hadn’t grown any more powerful, but they were certainly learning how to use them more efficiently. Just the other day, Noya was able to power an entire electric motor without blowing out the fuse, which was a big improvement from his second day of classes, when he caused a blackout on the entire second floor. 

Today, however, was their first day in the recreational room. Perhaps they were getting some free time for doing well, or maybe it was this place's version of the weekend. It was impossible to tell what anyone here was thinking. Still, the team wasn’t about to turn down some free time, even though they weren’t free in any sense of the word.

The place was large, so large that they couldn’t clearly see the other side, but that was also due to the various dimensions throughout the room. It seemed to have a few connecting areas that were designated to certain activities. In the corner nearest to them, they saw a group of young teenagers playing a makeshift basketball game with the hoop that was installed there. Further away, there was a huge group gathered around what looked like an impressive set up of televisions and video game consoles. If it were any other situation, they would have been ecstatic.

Except for Hinata and Kageyama, who took one look at the miniature volleyball court across the way and decided it didn’t matter the situation, before devolving into screams and sprinting off towards the net. 

Daichi sighed as he watched the pair run off, debating on whether to call for them to come back, but seeing how excited the rest of the group was even during this situation, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to follow the still screaming first years.

“Come on then, we might as well follow them,” he sighed and addressed the group.

It was actually quite a distance to the small volleyball setup, so it took awhile for them to get there; but when they did, they were met with quite a surprise.

“-ou! Waaah you’re here too!” Hinata’s voice carried over to the group, where they had finally gotten a clearer vision of what was happening.

On the volleyball ‘court’ already was most of the Fukurodani volleyball team along with a few members of Nekoma, including Kuroo, Yaku, and Lev; and Hinata was currently jumping up and down in front of Bokuto while the latter pumped a fist into the air. There were also a few other teenagers who they had never seen before, but were playing with the rest of them.

Despite themselves, Daichi and Suga found themselves smiling at seeing their friends and rivals, even if they wished it was under better circumstances. 

When the others noticed Karasuno, celebration broke out as a few of them came over to greet the other team. Lev had bounded over and picked up Hinata in a hug, much to the latter’s annoyance, but the tall first year was too excited to contain himself, and Suga and Yaku were exchanging hugs while excitedly greeting each other. The teams were acting much more openly affectionate with each other than usual, but they figured being kidnapped could do that to someone. 

The Fukurodani captain saw Tsukishima standing in the back next to Yamaguchi and waved to him, “Tsukki! You’re here too!”

Approaching an annoyed Tsukishima, Bokuto threw an arm around him as Kuroo joined in with a smirk, “How’s my student doing?”

Tsukishima glared in exasperation at the other two before murmuring, “Even after I’ve been kidnapped by some deranged experimental facility, I can’t escape you two.”

Everyone reveled in the feeling of seeing familiar faces for just a moment. Coming here had been difficult. Terrifying, honestly. And being surrounded by strange doctors everyday certainly didn’t make them feel any better, so even the face of the lady who owned the ramen shop down the street would have been a comfort. Having their opponents here finally gave them some much needed solace, but it also gave them hope.

Still standing where Bokuto was previously was Akaashi, who was softly smiling at the rest of the team and finally turned to face them, saying, “It’s good to see you all.”

Daichi returned the smile, eager to ask the setter a few questions, but he turned to the Nekoma captain first, asking, 

“Yeah, sorry about that. It was not a good start for us,” Kuroo replied with a sigh, “That morning we had just arrived, and already Yamamoto had been knocked unconscious and taken away, and Lev accidentally tripped and knocked a doctor over and got in trouble for that, and it was just...not good. We were too afraid of doing anything wrong, so I figured it was best to just lay low.”

Suga listened with wide eyes, asking, “Did they hurt you guys?”

The Nekoma captain shook his head with a frown, “No, that’s what’s weird. We thought they were gonna torture us or something, but so far they haven’t done anything to us other than the collars.”

Karasuno nodded in understanding. 

Hinata suddenly blurted loudly, “Wait! Where’s Kenma?”

A soft smile came over Kuroo’s face and he nodded his head in the direction of the huge group of teenagers around the television and game console setup, “Where else. He’s been there since we got here. I think he’s already gained a following.” 

Judging by the huge group, that was probably accurate.

Kuroo shook his head fondly, “I’m pretty sure he’s happy we’re here instead of the training camp.”

“So,” Asahi softly interjected, “Does that mean that all the teams at the training camp are here?”

“Yep,” Kuroo responded, “We even saw Ushiwaka and them a couple days ago in the cafeteria.”

“Shiratorizawa is here?!” Hinata exclaimed, “Do you think they’ll do a practice match with us?”

A few snickers came from the group, and Tanaka remarked, “Man, you really only think about volleyball don’t you?”

But Hinata and Kageyama were already delving into a different conversation that consisted of ways to coincide the recreational times of Karasuno and Shiratorizawa.

“Listen,” Kuroo brought back their attention with a slightly quieter voice than before, “I don’t know what’s been happening with you guys, but we need to talk.”

Daichi returned his gaze with a serious expression and nodded in understanding, before turning to the rest of the group, “Alright. Listen, why don’t you guys just relax, try to have some fun while we’re here, and we’re gonna talk for a minute.”

Despite also wanting some answers, Karasuno and the other players knew that they’d be filled in on the conversation later, so they parted ways and found ways to entertain themselves.

~

Daichi, Suga, Kuroo, and Akaashi discreetly began walking around the place to talk, unsure of who could be watching.

“So,” Suga began in hushed tones, “They took Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani, and Shiratorizawa?”

“That was everyone scheduled to do the training camp,” Akaashi responded quietly.

“What would be the purpose of going to some high school volleyball training camp in Tokyo and kidnapping a bunch of teenagers?” Suga asked incredulously.

Surveying the area warily, Kuroo began, “I don’t know for sure...but I think I know why.”

Daichi and Suga gave him a surprised glance.

“Take a look around,” the Nekoma captain began, “Who do you see here?”

Akaashi seemed to have already talked to Kuroo about this, as he just continued to unblinkingly stare forward as he walked, but Daichi and Suga took a look around carefully.

“Um, students?” Daichi answered obviously, “They did say when we got here that our school’s had chosen us for a special program…”

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Akaashi interjected.

Kuroo nodded with him, replying, “Exactly. They are students, but more importantly they’re teenagers. And if you look around, most of them seem like they do a team sport of some kind. They have tons of sports setups here.”

“So…?” Suga inquired.

“So they’re taking teenagers who are young, strong, and impressionable,” Kuroo listed off before adding with finality, “We’re guinea pigs.”

Daichi and Suga considered his meaning for a moment, and Suga inquired, “We’re just test subjects then? For them to do experimentations on?”

“I think it’s more than that. I think they’ve perfected it and they’re building something else now. Why would they treat us well and give us free time if we were just test subjects? I don’t know, it feels like,” Kuroo got quieter, “They’re trying to persuade us or something.”

“Kenma’s been working on getting a read on them during sessions, but they’re locked up pretty tight,” Kuroo added almost as an afterthought.

Daichi let out an exhausted sigh. “This is so...god,” he ran a hand through his hair, “What the hell is going on in this place? It’s like they’re just messing with our heads or something.”

Without glancing at him, Akaashi mumbled, “I think that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

After a while, the small group sat down on a bench and continued talking, exchanging any information they could and discussing the emotional states of their teams. It seemed like Fukurodani was holding up pretty well. Bokuto was feeling great ever since they enhanced his strength ability, “more confident than ever,” Akaashi had added with a flash of a fond smile. Nekoma was doing okay. Lev was struggling with getting a hold on his elasticity ability and constantly frustrated the teachers; but Kuroo mentioned with a laugh that the simple first year drove the doctors crazy during their sessions, because they couldn’t unnerve him at all. Kuroo had a sort of amused pride in that fact.

Daichi was currently explaining how Karasuno was doing, describing how hard the first day had been, but that it had been getting slowly better.

“I’m afraid a few of them have already gotten used to it here. Tanaka and Noya act like it’s regular school sometimes, and Hinata and Kageyama treat it like it’s a competition. The ones who have changed the most I think are Tsukishima and Yamaguchi...they’re-”

“Sugawara Koushi! Sugawara Koushi, where are you?!”

All four heads turned at the sound of the third year's name. A frantic man who appeared to be one of the staff was running around the building yelling Suga’s name. He looked panicked.

Suga stood up as the man continued to shout his name, slowly raising his hand and calling, “I’m here!”

The man whirled around towards him and gasped in relief, running over to the small group.

“Sugawara Koushi, please follow me quickly, it’s an emergency,” he gasped out.

Daichi grabbed the other’s wrist before he could go, demanding, “Why do you need him? What’s the emergency?”

“Please, someone’s hurt you must follow me!” the man urged.

Suga gently removed Daichi’s wrist, giving him a reassuring smile with soft brown eyes, and Daichi reluctantly let him go.

The trio watched as Suga ran off behind the man and felt discomfort rise within them. Glancing at each other, they knew they were all thinking the same thing.

There was something far darker was going on here.

~

Yamaguchi actually really liked the recreational center. At first, Tsukki just wanted to go to a little spot that was set up like a miniature library, and so Yamaguchi followed him and sat quietly watching the others as Tsukki read. It was peaceful, and he took a much needed deep breath. 

He found himself watching the volleyball match which had quickly devolved into...well, Yamaguchi didn’t really know what to call it, but he didn’t think it was volleyball. It wasn’t really a surprise, though, since Daichi and the others had left Hinata, Tanaka, Noya, and Lev in the hands of Bokuto. It seemed like Yaku had tried to keep them in line at first, but after a while he got so angry that he just started throwing volleyballs at them, only adding to the chaos. 

Currently, Tanaka, Noya, and Hinata were playing a little game of who can kick the volleyball the highest. They never got this kind of freedom in practice or in a gymnasium in general, so it was kind of fun to just let loose. 

Yamaguchi giggled as Noya wound his leg up so high it was almost behind his head to kick the ball, before Tanaka kicked the back of his knee on his standing leg and he collapsed forward. Tsukki glanced up from where he was reading and side-eyed Yamaguchi.

“Why don’t you join them?”

The freckled boy quickly turned to look at Tsukki with a surprised expression. Tsukki usually found the trio’s antics to be unbearable, so why was he suggesting that? Unless, he just wanted to be alone…

“Did, did you want to read alone, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked cautiously.

“Huh? No, you’ve just been imitating their movements for the past five minutes, so it seemed like you really wanted to join them.”

Yamaguchi blushed at the observation. He had a bad habit of subconsciously copying things he was watching. 

He was about to reassure Tsukki that he was okay just sitting, when surprisingly Kageyama came to a stop in front of him.

“Yamaguchi, will you hit some serves for me?” the dark-haired boy asked bluntly.

The freckled boy gaped up at Kageyama from where he was sitting but quickly shook himself to attention and stood up too quickly, answering, “Sure! Yeah, no problem!”

The other boy just walked away as his response, clearly expecting Yamaguchi to follow him. Yamaguchi looked back for just a second, but Tsukki had gone back to reading, so he quickly ran after Kageyama.

It was funny, he thought as he hit serves for the dark-haired boy to receive, he had always thought Kageyama was really endearing. Usually, boys like him would intimidate him to no end, but ever since they met, he just found Kageyama to be funny in his awkwardness. Maybe it’s because he had seen him drink strawberry milk and chocolate milk at the same time to create a ‘new flavor,’ but he just couldn’t see the other boy as intimidating. He kind of reminded him of Tsukki sometimes.

As Yamaguchi hit another jump floater, this one feeling a little bit off, Kageyama got down to receive it only for a volleyball to come flying out of nowhere and hit him directly in the face. Yamaguchi gasped as it completely knocked over the other boy, shocking him with the force behind it. A yelp from Hinata revealed exactly where the volleyball came from, except they had been _kicking_ them, so he didn’t even want to think about how hard it hit Kageyama. 

Kageyama sat up with a glare that sent Hinata running, but oddly enough he didn’t have a nosebleed. In fact, his face didn’t look that injured at all, except for maybe a little redness… Yamaguchi thought that strange, but the sight of Kageyama chasing Hinata through the building distracted him with laughter. Hinata ran around once again and hid behind Yamaguchi, whose first response was fear, but soon he felt laughter bubbling up once again as Kageyama continued to try to grab Hinata without hitting Yamaguchi. 

Tanaka and Noya finally recovered from where they had been hysterically cackling on the ground, running over and throwing Hinata over Tanaka’s shoulder while Noya grabbed Yamaguchi’s hand to run away. Yamaguchi’s face hurt from how much he was laughing, running away and joining an impromptu game of dodgeball with volleyballs.

It was the most fun he could ever remember having with his teammates, and he never wanted it to end. He didn’t even mind that he was sorely losing at their dodgeball game, even with Hinata trying to help him throw the volleyballs. Yamaguchi had always been pretty skinny and weak, but ever since their injections, the others had gotten a lot stronger, so he stood absolutely no chance in this game. 

But he didn’t mind at all, he found himself thinking with a soft smile.

~

The screams of the writhing person on the floor were all Suga could hear.

It was a teenage boy, probably around the same age as him, but he was writhing on the floor and sobbing like he was trying to escape his own body. He tried to push away the chills he got from the pure anguish he heard in the voice, but they came right back when he saw the state of the person. The boy’s skin was an unnatural color, paler than anyone should be with an odd tint of purple, and he was coughing up blood.

Suga wanted to turn away, but his instinct to help was stronger. He was surrounded by doctors who were frantically trying to restrain the injured boy, and he noticed that it was none other than Dr. Akiya who was urgently delivering orders. 

Catching sight of Suga, Dr. Akiya quickly ushered him over, insisting, “Come here, Sugawara Koushi, you need to heal him. Nothing is helping, so your ability is our last hope.”

Suga nervously looked at the pained boy, asking, “What’s wrong with him?”

Dr. Akiya quickly shook his head, “We don’t know, it doesn’t make any sense. Please you must heal him.”

Hearing the urgency in the other’s voice, Suga swallowed and quickly kneeled next to the boy. He hadn’t done anything like this before. Before they came here, Suga would only ever help the team with small injuries. If Hinata got a ball to the face, he could slow the nosebleed. If Tsukishima jammed a finger, he could reduce the swelling. Even now in his ability lessons with his enhanced abilities, they had only ever had him work on animals who were supposedly from a local shelter with small injuries. He had managed to heal all of them with no problem, but this looked much more serious.

Taking a deep breath, Suga closed his eyes and placed both his hands on the boy’s chest. He continued to breath slowly, and felt the heartbeat of the other, listening to the cries which had reduced to whimpers. He could sense the blood going through the boy’s veins and hear the labored breath he released, feeling how the boy’s body slowly responded to Suga’s attempt. 

Once he felt the other’s heart regulate, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes, remaining still to continue the healing. He had stabilized him, but to heal the damage would take a few more minutes at least. He stared at the face of the boy, which now only held a slight furrow between his brows, and tried to understand what could have happened to him.

As he sat there, he heard Dr. Akiya speaking to some of the other doctors. He shouldn’t have been able to hear him, considering how far away he was, but he found himself being able to do a lot of things he shouldn’t be able to do lately. 

“-can’t let this happen. This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore. We _needed_ this subject, why did it go wrong?” The angered hush of Dr. Akiya’s voice reached his ears.

Suga’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. He looked back down at the boy and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible so that they wouldn’t know he could hear them, but they had quickly abandoned the conversation and rushed back over to monitor Suga’s progress.

“How is it going Sugawara Koushi?” Dr. Akiya asked gently.

The third year glanced at him but continued to concentrate on his work, admitting, “He’s stabilized, but there is still damage. I may be here for awhile.”

Dr. Akiya nodded understandingly, and knelt next to Suga with a sigh, observing the boy with him.

“You do very good work here, you know? Because of your ability, you may have just saved this boy’s life.”

Suga nodded hesitantly, not sure why he was telling him that.

“You see, this boy had an unknown illness and so his mother brought him to us. We tried everything to heal him...but this morning his condition worsened and he became unstable. I never meant for it to fall on you to save his life, but I’m certainly glad to have you here. Thank you Sugawara.”

Suga met the doctor’s eyes and saw genuine thankfulness in them. Slowly, Suga nodded in response, at a loss for words. 

Dr. Akiya gave him one last small smile before standing back up, turning to walk away, but uttering these words before he left.

“Who knows how many lives you could end up saving?”

With these words, a great sense of responsibility washed over Suga. It’s true that he could now potentially save lives, but he had never thought about having the responsibility of someone else’s life in your hands. As he glanced back down at the now serene face of the boy, he realized that he didn’t have that luxury anymore.

~ 

At some point during Yamaguchi’s time in the recreational room, he was called into a session by one of the staff members. He had recently had a counseling session, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to do another so soon. Yet, they didn’t tell him what he would be doing, so he just followed in confusion.

He was led to a room on the floor where they did their group ability lessons, but it wasn’t the usual room they used. When he entered, he once again found Dr. Hishino waiting for him on the other side, only this time he was standing over a desk in concentration.

“Tadashi! Come on in,” he greeted him as he noticed his entrance.

Yamaguchi closed the door behind him gently and approached the desk. He was always surprised by how young Dr. Hishino was, like he shouldn’t be old enough to be a doctor or something.

“I’m very excited, because today is going to be your first solo lesson!” Dr. Hishino exclaimed with genuine excitement.

Yamaguchi scrunched his face in confusion, responding, “W-what? Solo lesson? Why do I need a solo lesson if I don’t have an ability?”

Still smiling, Dr. Hishino walked around the desk and came to a stop in front of him, answering, “Remember what I said in our last counseling session? That perhaps you could build an ability with practice? Well, that’s exactly what we’re doing today. If you’re interested?”

Gaping at the other, Yamaguchi’s eyes widened comically and he couldn’t stop the excitement that built within him.

“Really?! We can do that?”

“Of course,” Dr. Hishino answered with a smile as he adjusted his glasses, “Come on, let’s take a look over here.”

Dr. Hishino directed him towards the desk and gestured to a small potted plant.

“Do you like plants, Tadashi?” he inquired with a smile.

Yamaguchi inspected the little potted plant on the desk in front of him, thinking it was a cute little plant, but not knowing what it was.

“Um, yeah I like plants. I don’t know a lot about them though…” he admitted.

“That’s fine,” Dr. Hishino answered, “You don’t need to know a lot about it, all you need to do is make it grow.”

Yamaguchi glanced up at him with wide eyes, “Huh? Make it grow? Like, water it?”

Dr. Hishino laughed pleasantly, shaking his head and replying, “No, no. Make it grow, as in use your ability.”

“But I don’t have an abil-”

“Not yet, maybe, but you can. I’m sure of it. With my help, you can do it, Tadashi.”

The freckled boy looked back down at the plant and nervously grabbed the hem of his shirt.

“Here,” Dr. Hishino began, “All I want you to do is take a deep breath, hold the pot, and focus on the plant. That’s all.”

He wasn’t sure how he could possibly gain an ability just by practicing, but Yamaguchi heard the faith in Dr. Hishino’s words, and found himself wanting to prove him right. So, he took a deep breath, wrapped delicate fingers around the pot, and stared down at the plant. 

He was trying. He really was. He was focusing as much as possible on the little green leaves and gripping the pot tighter and tighter, but nothing was happening. After about thirty seconds, he wanted to give up, but Dr. Hishino’s gentle voice reached his ears.

“Come on, Tadashi, you can do it. Think about how much you want that little plant to grow. Think about how much you want to grow.”

Yamaguchi concentrated even harder on the plant, so hard beads of sweat were forming on his furrowed brow. He wanted it to grow. He wanted it to grow so badly. But it wasn’t. They were probably reaching two minutes by now, but it wasn’t budging. He didn’t even feel anything.

“You can do it, Tadashi. How badly do you want an ability? How badly do you want to be able to contribute to your team more? What can you do like this?”

Yamaguchi’s head was hurting from concentrating so hard on the plant, but he also felt a tightness in his throat that wasn’t there before. What could he do without an ability? He worked hard. He worked hard like he was working hard now. But the plant still wasn’t growing. Maybe no matter how hard he works, he’ll never grow either.

“Come on, Tadashi! You’re the only one on your team without an ability. Don’t you have any pride!”

For a moment, he swore he felt something, but then the pot broke from the force of his grip and he quickly dropped the plant which rolled to the floor. He let out a frustrated sob and held his now bloodied hands out in front of him.

“Tadashi!” Dr. Hishino cried and quickly grabbed his wrists before running to a cabinet to grab some gauze.

Yamaguchi’s mind was unresponsive as Dr. Hishino gently grabbed his hands and wrapped them with care. Soft cries filled the room while he detachedly watched the movements of Dr. Hishino’s hands. Just then, he actually thought he felt something, a slight tingling in his fingertips, but it was just his fingers gripping too hard and the pot giving way to the force.

“Shhh it’s okay, it’ll be okay,” Dr. Hishino carefully wrapped his arms around Yamaguchi in a hug and patted his back comfortingly, “I’m sorry, Tadashi, I should have stopped you. It was too much, I’m sorry.”

Yamaguchi suddenly pulled back and looked up at Dr. Hishino with wide eyes, whining, “I can do it! I promise I was almost there! I just need another chance!”

The taller man watched Yamaguchi in concern and softly answered, “It’s okay, Tadashi, don’t worry. You’ll get another chance, I promise. But we should take a break for now, okay? Your hands are injured and you’re upset. It’s fine to take a break.”

Yamaguchi’s face morphed into distress, thinking about ways to convince Dr. Hishino he could do it again now, but the other started speaking again, “Besides, you actually did quite well for a first time.”

The freckled boy looked up at him questioningly.

“Honestly!” the other reiterated, giving him a small smile, “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you have a lot of promise, Tadashi. You’ll get there.”

Yamaguchi was struck silent for a moment. Shimada-san had said something similar to him once. 

Without realizing it, Yamaguchi’s tears had stopped and a small smile came over his face. His face felt sticky from the drying tears, but he felt much better than before. He wasn’t totally convinced yet, but Dr. Hishino sounded _so_ confident in him. It made him believe he could do it. It made him want to prove he could do it.

His face turned upwards with hopeful eyes as he gave Dr. Hishino a watery smile through the now dried tears. 

Perhaps, with Dr. Hishino’s help, he actually could gain an ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep trying to hold off on posting chapters so early but I have no self control :)))
> 
> (p.s. I changed the end chapter count because it will probably be a bit longer than expected, but I anticipate around fourteen chapters)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves, this is where things get crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight trigger warning: Non-consensual touching

With how quickly time seemed to pass here, it almost seemed like they were back at school getting ready for a tournament. They were so caught up in going to ability lessons and going to counseling sessions that it was a shock when they realized it had already been a few weeks since they were brought there. 

This morning had marked their third week there and it also marked their second injection. It became pretty clear to all of them that it wasn’t a flu shot, unless it was routine to get multiple flu shots a year now, and it was pretty obvious that it was connected to their enhanced abilities in some way. In fact, Hinata had even looked a little excited by the prospect of another injection.

That didn’t mean Daichi and the others weren’t still working on finding a way out, but it was slow going. 

Currently, they found themselves in a group ability lesson with all of Karasuno, something they had never done before, and it was going about as expected. Daichi didn’t know who taught the second years usually, but even he thought they needed a raise.

“Hah!” sounded Tanaka’s obnoxiously loud laugh/scream from the other side of the room, “What the hell was that Noya?! You’re supposed to climb the wall not electrocute it!”

“Shut up Ryu! You burned down the rope swing!” Noya yelled back, equally as obnoxious.

Daichi tried to focus on the metal bar he had to move to enter the next area, but it was difficult with the noises coming from behind him.

“Both of you shut up and focus!” he eventually yelled. Fire and electricity was not a good combination.

Their test was to complete the obstacle course. Only this obstacle course was high tech, multi-roomed, and could only be completed using their abilities. 

They were still on room one.

Finally, the bar in front of the door shifted until it slid off and fell to the ground, and he let out a sigh of relief before throwing the door open.

The others were slowly piling in behind him, already looking tired, while Hinata on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Because he could teleport, he didn’t have to do any of the challenges. He couldn’t get through the doors, because there must have been another kind of block of some sort, but everything else was fair game. Now they had to get through the next room.

While Kageyama was carefully walking across a balance beam, Hinata teleported to the other side before teleporting right in front of Kageyama to ask how he was doing.

It infuriated Kageyama. 

Hinata laughed at the other and continued to pop up around him, both showing off and trying to get him to fall.

So, Kageyama decided to use his own ability as well.

When Hinata popped up next to him again, he grabbed the other's arm and focused on him. Slowly, Hinata lost more and more energy until Kageyama let his arm go and smirked.

The smaller boy gaped at the other for a moment before putting on his most wronged expression.

“Daichi-san~! Kageyama stole my ability!” Hinata whined.

“Well,” the captain huffed as he busied himself with climbing a wall, “You _were_ teasing him.”

“But that’s not fair! Now I have to do everything while bakageyama gets to teleport!”

“Calm down, idiot. You’ll get it back soon,” Kageyama mumbled, “Besides, I bet I could beat you even without using your ability.”

“Yeah?! Fine, you’re on!” the orange-haired boy retorted before running off, quickly followed by the other boy.

Reaching the next door took far longer than it should have, and even though they all expected Kageyama and Hinata to finish first, their competitiveness meant pushing each other off of balance beams and ‘forgetting’ to throw the climbing rope back down, which slowed them down considerably.

As they approached the door they heard a loud clicking sound, and when they attempted to open it, it was locked shut. A quick examination of the door showed a camera attached above the top, surveilling up to five feet in front of the door. Every time one of them got near the door, in sight of the camera, the door would lock shut.

“Alright,” Daichi sighed, examining the next door once most of them had reached it, “Looks like you’re up, Asahi.”

The tall third-year glanced nervously between the door and the rest of the group.

“M-me?”

“Yes you!” Suga pushed the larger teen forward and slapped him harshly on the back, “Go get ‘em Asahi!”

Asahi had a type of illusion ability, which meant he could make people, and screens, see what he wanted them to see. Or more accurately, not see.

Closing his eyes, Asahi took a deep breath before he faded before their eyes. The next thing they knew the metal door was opening and Asahi was reappearing on the other side.

This was the first time anyone other than the third years were seeing his new enhanced ability, and most of them were a mixture of amazed and proud. 

“Yes! Go Asahi!” Noya yelled, breaking the silence and jumping up onto the taller teen in a koala hug.

Daichi and Tanaka gave Asahi a pat on the back as they passed him, distantly hearing him stammering to the small libero, “Ah careful Noya! Y-your electricity!”

They couldn’t blame him though. Out of everyone, Noya definitely had the least amount of control of his ability, and it got worse when he was excited.

Asahi finally got the smaller teen to disengage from his torso, and the latter happily skipped away to where Tanaka and Hinata were laughing in the back.

Entering the next room, Noya nudged Hinata with a devious grin and whispered, “Oi Shoyou, wanna play a prank on Kageyama?”

The first year lit up with a blindingly bright smile and nodded enthusiastically. The pair snorted in excitement, Noya whispering, “Okay, okay, so…”

After explaining the plan to Hinata, Noya quietly snuck up behind Kageyama and cued Hinata to do his part. The other boy sidled up to Kageyama and gave him an innocent smile to which the dark haired teen glared suspiciously.

“Wh-”

Before he could get the words out, Noya charged his fingertips with electricity just the slightest amount and jumped in front of Kageyama, pushing him the tiniest bit so that he felt a slight shock, no more than when you shock yourself with static though.

Still, their little prank yielded unexpected results, because the next thing they knew Kageyama was jumping back with a comically frightened look on his face and _teleporting_ mid-air.

For a moment, Noya and Hinata just stood in shock, but then Kageyama reappeared moments later...directly onto their captain. He didn’t have a focus point when he teleported and it was his first time even attempting to use the ability, so it made sense that he landed in a random spot.

However, Daichi clearly wasn’t expecting this, and in response the captain yelped as he fell backwards in surprise, almost crushing Suga. 

This is where the chaos began. 

He tripped over himself at the last second to avoid landing on the other, and in his attempt to save Suga, he telekinetically flung one of the large blocks in the obstacle course at Tanaka. 

“Ah!” Tanaka screamed as the block hit the wall next to his head at an alarming speed, creating a burst of fire in his fear which ignited one of the ladders in the room.

Meanwhile, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi hadn’t moved from their position standing by the wall. They silently stood, completely motionless as they watched the scene unfold before them, eyes glancing back and forth in sync every time someone flung something or set something on fire.

Asahi too watched the chaos continue to unfold and quietly disappeared into the background, using his ability to hide himself from everyone. Of course, this ended up being the wrong move, because Noya, who had been dodging any flying objects or elements with wide eyes slowly backed up to avoid anymore outbursts and bumped into Asahi. 

The taller teen let out a little “oof,” which the small libero did not take well. 

He shrieked at the noise when there was no source he could see, jumping up almost impressively high and electrocuting the floor along with half of his surroundings when he landed, thankfully missing his teammates.

The room finally came to a stand still, revealing the damage that now surrounded the room. On one side of the room there was a ladder still on fire, on the other side there was a huge dent in the wall from where Daichi threw the block, and on the door there was a large burn mark etched across the metal, reminiscent of a lightning strike.

Oops.

“Nice going, Noya,” Suga chastised in exasperation.

Noya launched into his own defense unnecessarily loudly. At the same time, Kageyama had already turned to Hinata with his signature glare.

“...you have five seconds to run, Hinata.”

The orange haired boy squeaked at Kageyama’s quiet threat before launching into a sprint. 

That’s where things got worse.

Arguing filled the room as Daichi tried to grab Hinata and Kageyama, yelling at them to stop fighting. At the same time, Tanaka and Noya had begun arguing over whose fault it was that Tanaka set the ladder on fire. Suga cracked his fingers in preparation, fully intending on teaching them a lesson, but ended up having to grab Asahi as the ace tried to hide once again.

Still standing quietly next to Yamaguchi, Tsukishima sighed at the amount of yelling and screaming in the room as the pair watched the other’s argue, eventually mumbling, “Maybe they’ll burn the entire building down by accident and we can finally escape...”

A giggle was torn out of Yamaguchi, but the arguing was growing louder and louder to the point that they couldn’t distinguish who was yelling. But they _could_ hear a faint buzzing sound that was growing louder by the second.

The volume of their arguing grew and a light flickered on the ceiling, drawing Yamaguchi’s attention.

“Um, Tsukki?” he addressed the blonde, but the other had obviously already noticed the flickering, because in the next second he was grabbing Yamaguchi and pulling him into a kneeling position before covering him with his body.

After that, all Yamaguchi heard was the loud burst of something exploding, so loud it sounded like a bomb going off.

The room was completely quiet in the aftermath of the noise. He didn’t know how many moments passed, but eventually Yamaguchi realized he had closed his eyes painfully tight and could only make out his own heavy breathing. As his senses came back to him, he could feel Tsukki’s arms wrapped around him, and faintly hear the sounds of quiet crackling.

Opening his eyes slowly, the first thing Yamaguchi saw was that Tsukki had put a shield around them. Then he noticed that the entire room was dark and they could only just make out their surroundings thanks to the reflection of an unknown light source. 

That’s also when he realized that the explosion must have been from the electricity in the room short circuiting due to all their combined energy from arguing and more than likely Noya setting it off. 

Slowly, Tsukki removed the shield and stood up, followed by Yamaguchi and many of the others who had crouched down when the blast sounded.

“What the hell…” Tanaka groaned.

Most of them had stood up, and thankfully looked relatively uninjured.

“Is everyone okay?” Daichi asked out of breath.

“Ugh!” They heard Hinata groan as he lifted himself from where he had ended up underneath Kageyama somehow, “Jeez Tsukishima you asshole! Why’d you only put a shield around you and Yamaguchi!”

The blonde didn’t even spare him a glance when he responded, “Because we were the only ones not causing an electrical explosion.”

Hinata opened his mouth to argue, but realized the other wasn’t exactly wrong.

“What do we do now?” Asahi asked once everyone was confirmed to be mostly uninjured. Suga was healing a little scratch on Kageyama and going around to help their bruises, but otherwise they weren’t too bad.

“Well, we can’t get through the door,” Daichi responded. It was a door powered with electricity, so they didn’t really have a way through it now.

“What about this door!”

They looked in the direction Hinata was pointing, finding another door much like the first room had.

“It’s locked genius,” Tsukishima replied, “We tried that when we first came in, remember?”

“But it’s just a regular lock, I bet we could open it from the other side!” Hinata yelled in retort.

“If we could get to the other side, then that would kind of defeat the purpose of opening the door, don’t you think?” Tsukki asked rhetorically with no small amount of frustration.

Hinata growled as he and the tall blonde had a glaring contest, until it was interrupted by Asahi’s soft voice.

“What about this vent?”

They turned towards the vent in question, situated high on a wall.

“The only ones who could fit are Noya and Hinata,” Suga commented.

“Sweet! Let’s go Shoyou!” Noya shouted with a smile and immediately headed towards the vent.

“Wait, wait!” Daichi stopped them, “You can’t just climb through some random vents to see where you end up!”

“Why not? Come on, we’ll just take a quick peak!” Noya answered excitedly.

Daichi clearly didn’t want them to go, but in the end he eventually gave in since they had very few options in this situation.

The two small teens climbed into the vents with the help of their taller players, and the team waited anxiously for their return.

When the doorknob began to jiggle from the other side, they were shocked.

“No way did that actually work,” Tsukishima muttered in disbelief.

“Ta da!” Hinata and Noya opened the door while making puffed up poses.

Daichi shook his head with a smile, but otherwise decided it was best to find a way out through the door.

When they exited the room they ended up in a dark corridor that seemed to go in a few directions.

“Okay,” Daichi sighed examining their new surroundings, “It looks like we might’ve shorted out the surrounding area, so let’s just look around until we find a light source. We can split up to search in each direction, but count _every_ turn you make so we can meet back here. Let’s say twenty minutes.”

~

Daichi rubbed his forehead for the fourth time in the last five minutes due to the two voices behind him.

He had split up with Hinata and Kageyama, wanting to keep them out of trouble, but now he was regretting his decision.

“I can’t believe you caused the whole floor to go dark, Kageyama.”

“What?! That was your fault! You're the one who pulled that stupid prank on me!”

“Yeah but you’re the one who stole my ability!”

“Because you were being-!”

“If you both don’t stop arguing,” Daichi interrupted, “I’m going to leave you by yourselves and I know for a fact you two haven’t been counting our corners.”

The pair pouted, not wanting to admit he was right, but stopped arguing.

A few moments of silence passed in the darkness before a small voice broke through it.

“...I’m sorry for scaring you Bakageyama…”

Hinata’s voice was quiet and a bit reluctant, but also held genuineness which made Kageyama look at the other in surprise.

“...Well...I’m sorry for taking your ability…” Kageyama eventually responded, even quieter than Hinata had been.

The smaller boy looked genuinely happy by the apology, quickly forgetting that he was mad at the other. Kageyama blushed at his expression and looked away. But then, tentatively, he stretched his hand out where it was hanging besides Hinata’s and grabbed the other’s hand.

“I-it’s dark,” was all he muttered as an explanation, but the smaller boy was already blushing profusely with a restrained smile.

Daichi smiled at the two younger players as they continued walking. They had an odd ‘we’re dating but we’ll never admit it out loud’ relationship that the entire team knew about. But Daichi had a feeling that their relationship would be the same no matter what label was put on it.

As they rounded a corner they finally saw the slightest bit of evidence of light. 

“Light!” Hinata yelled out before the others could say anything.

“Shh!” Daichi hushed urgently, “We’ll check it out, but I don’t want us to be found wandering the corridors. I think we should stay hidden.”

Hinata nodded enthusiastically to the elder as did Kageyama with more restraint. 

Once they reached the end of the corridor they found a door which was locked, but had the smallest window on it which revealed a bit of light. It was a bit high up though.

“Kageyama, _very carefully_ , will you look through the window and tell us what you see?”

Kageyama nodded slowly and stood on his tiptoes to peer through the window. He was there for at least thirty seconds before Daichi got too curious to remain quiet.

“What do you see?”

“Yeah what is it Kageyama? Lift me! I wanna see too!” Hinata added.

Kageyama swallowed before answering very quietly, “It’s Ushijima Wakatoshi...and Tendou Satori...and some other members from Shiratorizawa.”

“What?” Daichi asked incredulously, “What are they doing?”

“They’re lying down and sitting. There’s some doctors looking at them. They...don’t look good.”

Daichi’s heart picked up while Hinata’s eyes widened.

“I think they’re sick,” Kageyama added, still peering through the window, “It looks like they’re getting shots. Wow. Ushijima looks really pale. And a lot thinner…”

“Let me see!” Hinata finally interrupted and jumped up to try to see through the door. He could easily reach the height with his jumping abilities, but he couldn’t stay up long enough to see what was happening.

Kageyama sighed and moved behind Hinata, “Stay still dumbass…”

He lifted the smaller boy up so that he could see, and immediately Hinata gasped at the sight.

“Oh my g- they look awful! What’s happening to them, why are they-”

He cut off suddenly, causing Daichi to question him.

“What is it?”

“I can hear them,” he responded quietly.

“Huh?”

“Through the door I can kind of hear them.”

“Really?” Daichi asked.

Everyone had noticed that there were small differences in their senses, like faster reflexes and better hearing, but it seemed that Hinata was progressing even faster.

“What are they saying?” Kageyama asked as he set the other down gently.

Hinata was completely silent. As the moments passed, Kageyama got impatient and asked him again.

“Oi, what are they saying Hinata?”

Finally, the orange haired boy turned to face them and said, “I can barely hear it...but I think they were talking about Ushiwaka. They said, “He might not make it, but we need more.”

Daichi and Kageyama exchanged concerned glances with each other before turning back to Hinata.

The third year glanced at the door and swallowed. He wasn’t sure what that comment entailed, but he knew it wasn’t good.

~

A few corridors down, Suga found himself put in charge of Tanaka and Noya, which was probably not the best combination. Suga was responsible enough, and very adept at wrangling Tanaka and Noya, but they had only made it three corners before they got lost.

“Whoops,” Suga murmured.

“Where are we? This place is so freaking weird,” Tanaka remarked, banging loudly on the metal walls which wasn’t the smartest idea.

“Ooh! Let’s go down this way! I bet I can reach the end faster,” Noya barely got the words out before he was running off, Tanaka close behind him.

By the time Suga turned to face them, they were half way gone already.

“Damn.”

He just wouldn’t mention this to Daichi when they got back. If they got back.

~

“O-okay you two! Don’t worry! Your upperclassman will take care of you!”

Asahi nervously assured the two first-years he was put in charge of, but was only met with an awkward silence as Tsukishima stared at him blankly and Yamaguchi gave him a dopey little smile.

“It’s okay Asahi-san,” the freckled first year eventually answered, “We’re not worried.”

“Oh, g-good. Yeah um, okay let’s go then.”

They made their way down the corridor slowly, Asahi leading the other two, making sure to carefully count the corners. 

They walked in a comfortable silence for the first few turns while they looked at the corridor. It was different from the places they usually walked. Instead of walls painted the color of a soft beige, they were surrounded by metal walls and a cold drift in the air.

“Tsukki, look!” Yamaguchi whispered excitedly, pointing at one of the walls, “That shadow looks like a dinosaur.”

Tsukki looked at the shadow and snorted, “Yamaguchi...there are around 700 discovered species of dinosaurs, and that doesn’t look like a single one of them.”

“It does!” Yamaguchi giggled through his indignant response, “Look it has the scary claws and that's the head and maybe that's a tail-”

“Is this a new discovery?”

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi returned with faux affront, obscured by his wide smile.

“Ah yes, the newly discovered specimen scientifically described as having ‘scary claws’ and ‘maybe a tail,’” Tsukishima deadpanned. 

Yamaguchi covered his mouth from his laughter, breaking into a fit of laughter that he was unable to stop. Tsukishima didn’t stop the smile that came over his face either.

Asahi listened to the pair behind him, and a small smile came over his face as well. It was nice to hear them laughing. He rarely got to see Tsukishima so comfortable, and even Yamaguchi with his freely given smiles and encouragement was usually very reserved.

“Asahi-san!” 

The third year turned to find Yamaguchi running up to him excitedly, asking, “Can you do that thing you did earlier? It was so cool!”

“You mean with my ability?”

Yamaguchi nodded his head fervently with a huge smile. Asahi could never turn down the freckled boy with that excited expression, and he was about to fufill the younger’s request when he heard a noise come from around the next corner.

His head spun towards the noise and he saw faint movement from the other end. Quickly grabbing Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, he pulled them towards the edge of the wall and immediately hid the three of them using his ability.

A few moments later, two pairs of feet rounded the corner and two workers came into view, chatting quietly.

As they came closer and closer to the trio, Asahi pulled them closer to him and tried to calm his heartbeat. As they passed them, they could barely make out their whispered voices.

“-esn’t he just get rid of him? He’s useless to us.”

“Because he’s obsessed with him. He even talked to Akiya. Akiya should just get rid of both of them, they’re just going to make things harder for us.”

“Yeah. But hey- If you’re going to experiment on someone it might as-”

The voices tapered off as they rounded the next corner and disappeared from the trio’s view.

Asahi let out the breath he was holding and closed his eyes in relief. He didn’t give them visibility just yet, but he chanced speaking.

“Are you two good?” he asked quietly.

Yamaguchi nodded quickly, and Asahi turned to the other boy.

“Tsukishima?”

The boy was still watching the direction the workers had disappeared to, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Tsukishima?” Asahi repeated.

The blonde blinked once and nonchalantly looked away once more, offering a simple, “Yeah.”

They continued on after that, more slowly and closely grouped now, hoping not to run into anyone else.

~

Once they had all returned to the meeting spot where they began, Hinata was quick to tell everyone what they had seen.

“You won’t believe what we saw! So there was a light at the end of one of the hallways and we followed it, but when we got there, there was a door with a window and Kageyama looked through it. And then we saw Ushijima! And the guess blocking guy and a few others! But they looked super sick, like...I don’t know. It was scary.”

“Is that true, Daichi?” Suga asked the captain.

Daichi nodded, adding, “Yeah. I don’t know what we saw, but they were bringing them in and out of rooms, and they did not look good. Especially Ushijima, which seems impossible since he has invulnerability. And Hinata heard them say something odd.”

Suga glanced at Hinata who nodded and muttered, “They said, ‘He might not make it, but we need more.’ Or something like that.”

“What the hell…” Tanaka whispered.

The group was silent in thought until a voice sounded from behind them.

“There you are.”

Most of the group jumped at the sudden voice, spinning around to find Dr. Akiya standing calmly in front of them. 

He gave them a small smile.

“I expected you to get out of the obstacle course somehow, but I confess I didn’t think causing an outage would be one of the methods,” he laughed pleasantly.

“It was an accident,” Suga answered quietly, “Our energy just caused it to overload.”

“Oh no it’s fine, we saw up until the cameras cut out. We would have tried to get you out sooner, but the outage caused a few injuries. We had to get a group of students in and out of rooms to take care of them. But they should hopefully be fine.”

They remained silent.

“That was quite the display of power though. Imagine if you could do that on command. Wouldn’t that be something?”

“I-it really was an accident!” Hinata exclaimed suddenly, “I was just playing a prank on Kageyama and then everyone accidentally destroyed everything and we were all yelling-”

“It’s completely fine, Hinata Shoyou. Kageyama Tobio stole your ability after all. You had every right to be upset. And Nishinoya Yuu could’ve killed you all with that electrical explosion. It’d be quite understandable if that made you upset. Not to mention Tsukishima Kei could’ve protected you all, but only protected himself and his friend.”

The response rubbed each of them the wrong way. They wanted to defend each other and themselves, but it felt awkward when he said it so matter-of-fact.

“I’d completely understand if you were upset, but try not to hold it against each other. We’ll just do better next time, yeah? Let’s learn from our mistakes.”

An eerie silence fell over the room as Dr. Akiya walked back through the door where the obstacle course was, the power going back on as he did so. He didn’t say another word to them, just left. Maybe expecting them to follow. Maybe not. It left them unsettled.

“That guy gives me the creeps…” Tanaka actually whispered this time, and no one had the slightest inclination to disagree with him.

~

After the lesson ended, Karasuno went back to the rec room where they saw Nekoma but not Fukuorodani. Daichi, Suga, and Kuroo were in a corner talking about what had happened that day, faces serious as they conversed, but the rest of the team was relaxing to make things less suspicious.

Kuroo was taking in the information he just learnt, running a hand through his already messy hair and sighing.

“Damn...that’s not good.”

Suga and Daichi nodded in agreement.

“I can’t say I’m surprised though. I don’t think I’d be surprised by anything they do in here.”

Daichi gave him a questioning look, “What do you mean?”

Kuroo met his eyes with a sharp gaze, “Kenma finally got a read on Dr. Akiya when he was having us do a dumb obstacle course too, and...according to Kenma, it’s not good.” 

“How so?” Suga asked in a voice that said he didn’t want to know the answer.

“The guy is a complete sociopath.”

Suga and Daichi’s eyes widened at the blatant admission.

“He couldn’t completely explain it,” Kuroo continued, “But Kenma said his thoughts were completely distorted. Like he had a screw loose. The guy was watching us struggle and hurt ourselves, and all that was going through his head was numbers. He only views us clinically. Like lab rats.”

Suga exhaled quietly in distress, eyes wide and smile strained.

“Daichi,” the silver haired teen started in an odd voice, “We have to get out of here. They aren’t safe here. Hinata, Yamaguchi, Noya...all of them, something bad is going to happen! I can feel it. We-we _have_ to get out of here-”

“Suga, calm down,” Daichi grabbed the others shoulders and whispered to him in a gentle voice, “Take deep breaths, it’s okay. We are getting out of here. I promise. We’ll keep them safe. Nothing will happen to them.”

Daichi turned to Kuroo while he rubbed Suga’s shoulders, “Tetsurou. We need to speed the plan up. We can’t stay here much longer.”

He was met with no resistance as Kuroo nodded in agreement.

“I know. I agree. I have my own to look after...”

He said the last part so quietly that the other two could barely hear him, and Kuroo turned his gaze towards the direction where his team was playing. Eyes watching Kenma especially carefully.

The first years of Karasuno, along with Lev and Kenma, had been playing a simple game of receiving in a circle, but the conversation quickly turned to what they had seen that day.

“Shoyou, you really saw Shiratorizawa?” Kenma asked quietly.

“Yeah! It was crazy…they looked so sick. But Dr. Akiya said that a group of students got injured after the explosion, so maybe that was it?”

“I don’t recall electrical explosions causing malnourishment and paleness,” Tsukishima replied sardonically.

Hinata grimaced to himself and thought over the other options.

Lev’s enthusiastic voice broke through as he exclaimed, “Maybe they were sick before with the flu, and then got hurt by the explosion!”

The giant first year seemed so proud of his hypothesis, but then his face contorted into a thoughtful expression and he added, “But we’ve been getting those flu shots, so that doesn’t make sense…”

Tsukishima gave the other boy a concerned look. Honestly, even he was concerned with the naïve first year’s well being in this place.

“Be careful Shoyou,” Kenma's soft voice interrupted the moment.

“Huh? What do you mean Kenma?”

“These people aren’t what they seem. I can feel it," the quiet setter uttered, "I mean, obviously Dr. Akiya is insane, but be careful about the others. The ones that seem the most trustworthy worry me the most.”

Hinata gave him a confused look but didn’t question it further.

Across from the circle, Yamaguchi was looking down at the volleyball in his hands thoughtfully. 

What does he mean the ones that seem the most trustworthy?

His thoughts were interrupted surprisingly not by Tsukishima, but by Kageyama who was holding out his hands like a four year old who was asking for something.

“Can I have the ball? I want to keep practicing receives. Want to?”

Yamaguchi couldn’t help the amused smile that came over his face. Of course, even this conversation wouldn’t be more interesting to Kageyama than volleyball.

“Sure, Kageyama,” he tossed the ball to the dark haired boy and followed the other a little bit away from the circle where they could toss the ball back and forth without hitting the others. He didn’t miss the way Tsukishima watched him walk away.

~

It was late in the day, and Yamaguchi was in his regular counseling session with Dr. Hishino, sitting comfortably on a soft beige colored couch and chatting with the other. He used to be very nervous during these sessions, but they’ve found a nice balance between casual and personal that felt more like friendly conversation than an interrogation. The conversation had migrated from Yamaguchi recounting the antics of his team members to Dr. Hishino asking about his childhood friends. The freckled boy’s initial urge was to brush off the question and answer with ambiguities, but he felt so comfortable in that moment, and thought that he actually wouldn’t mind talking about the subject with Dr. Hishino.

When he began speaking, he was surprised by how steady he sounded, despite feeling shame spread throughout him as he responded, “Actually, I didn’t really have many friends when I was a kid. I’ve never really talked about it to anyone, but...I was bullied a lot in elementary school. There was this group of boys in particular who would make me carry their things because they said I was too skinny, and they’d say my freckles were ugly...I used to dread going to school.”

He was going to leave it at that, but there was a pressure in his chest that felt like it continued to grow every time he held back his words, until it would eventually combust. So before he knew it, Yamaguchi was revealing all of his thoughts to the doctor, unable to stop the feelings that he’d never told anyone in his life. Not even Tsukki.

“To this day it stays with me. I used to hide in the bathrooms at lunchtime, so that the bullies wouldn’t find me. I guess, though, even before the bullies, I didn’t have any friends...I don’t know why, but from the very first day of school no one played with me or talked to me during breaks. No one asked me to be their partner for projects. And no one said anything about the bullies either. S-sometimes...during outside time, I would grab one of the balls and pretend it was my friend, and I’d play little games with it. I remember, that I thought that was how it was going to be for the rest of my life. I thought I’d never make a friend.”

Yamaguchi’s voice grew quieter and quieter as he spoke, eventually tapering off to a whisper at the end. 

Dr. Hishino listened attentively, and when it seemed that Yamaguchi wasn’t going to speak again, he replied, “But it changed, didn’t it? You do have friends now. Lots of them. Despite everything you went through, you made it here.”

The freckled boy smiled down at his twiddling hands, responding, “That’s because of Tsukki. Tsukki saved me.”

The other raised an eyebrow in question, encouraging him to elaborate.

“When the bullying was at it’s worst, and I thought that no one cared what happened to me, Tsukki walked past me as the bullies were taunting me and saved me. Well, all he did was say ‘lame,’ but it made them stop. And from that day on he let me play with him. He taught me volleyball. He talked to me during breaks. He asked me to do school projects with him…He was my very first friend.”

“You must care about him very much,” Dr. Hishino began softly, “He’s still your friend, right?”

Fondly, Yamaguchi reminisced, “Yeah. Until I entered high school, Tsukki was my only friend. We did everything together. I went over to his house so much that I had my own toothbrush! And I became really close with his family too. I didn’t have any siblings, but Tsukki’s brother would treat me like I was also his little brother, and his mom would slip me snacks in his bento! I can’t imagine what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t met Tsukki. Tsukki is...he’s very important to me. I’d do anything for him.”

It was silent for a few moments as Yamaguchi continued to stare down at his hands with a constrained smile and a blush, then Dr. Hishino spoke up, “You know, I used to be a student here as well.”

Yamaguchi met the other’s eyes in shock, exclaiming, “Really?”

“Uh huh,” the other responded while he adjusted a decorative pillow on the couch, “I didn’t progress as well as you all have, but they said I have a mind for this kind of work, so they hired me once I graduated. Sometimes, I don’t necessarily agree with all of Dr. Akiya’s methods, but...well, nevermind. The fact is that I learned quite a bit here.”

“Wow,” Yamaguchi gaped, “What is your ability?”

For a few moments, Dr. Hishino was silent, not moving an inch, but then he gently smiled and turned back to Yamaguchi, responding, “I can’t tell you, confidentiality rules between student and teacher in case we accidentally influence you in any way.”

Yamaguchi nodded his head in disappointment, but perked up and said, “I bet you were really good, though, if they hired you! I want to get that good too.”

Dr. Hishino gave him a fond smile, “I have every confidence you will get that good.”

There was a moment of silence before Dr. Hishino put a gentle hand on the freckled boy’s knee, and spoke with unadulterated sincerity.

“I'm so proud of you, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi couldn’t describe the joy he felt at those words, beaming so brightly at the other that he could barely keep his eyes open. Still smiling, he looked back down at his twiddling hands thoughtfully.

He would get better. He would get better for his team mates. He would get better for Tsukki. He would make them all proud to call him their friend.

“Tadashi,” Dr. Hishino started quietly, “I think you and I have a deeper understanding of each other.”

For a moment, Yamaguchi didn’t even register the movement, but when he did all he felt was confusion. 

The hand that was on his bony knee had slid up his leg slowly until it was resting on his inner thigh. He looked down at the hand in confusion until he felt another hand caress the side of his face, turning him to meet the other’s eyes.

Before he knew what was happening, Dr. Hishino was softly pulling him forward and pressing his lips to his. At the same time, the hand that was on his inner thigh was sliding dangerously close to another area, and that’s when Yamaguchi’s brain caught up.

He shot up from his seated position on the couch, tripping on the edge of the couch as he stumbled backwards.

“W-what are you doing?!” he yelled in an embarrassingly high pitch.

“What do you mean?” Dr. Hishino responded, clearly confused by Yamaguchi’s reaction, “We have a connection, Tadashi, I know you feel it too.”

“Huh?! What...no, b-but you...you ca-can’t _do_ that!” he stuttered, the racing of his heart growing every second.

“Why not? You’re _so_ beautiful, Tadashi. I just want to make you feel good.”

Yamaguchi’s fear spiked, gripping his hair in distress for a moment before forcefully crying out, “No!” 

The air was still after his outburst, the only sound being Yamaguchi’s harsh breathing.

...

“Very well.”

Dr. Hishino finally interrupted the silence, and then continued, “Then you can leave if you wish.”

His feet seemed to move faster than his brain as Yamaguchi swiftly headed towards the door reaching for the door handle, fully intending to get out as fast as humanly possible.

“Just know that your choices will affect your friends.”

Yamaguchi’s hand stopped on the door handle.

He carefully turned his head to fearfully glance at Dr. Hishino.

“W-what?”

“You’re not stupid, Tadashi,” the other stood up and took a few steps closer to Yamaguchi, still a good distance away, “You know exactly what I mean. I have a lot of influence here, and I can make it very comfortable for all of you if you want. Or not. Students have been known to get hurt during classes after all.”

Yamaguchi gulped, trying to process his words.

“Depending on your choices, you will affect your friends' lives here. You will affect ‘Tsukki’s’ life here.”

At that moment, Yamaguchi’s head began to spin with anxiety. It was very clear what was being said to him, but his head was pounding with the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

Dr. Hishino strolled to the other side of the room where a desk was, idly adjusting a metal star figurine without sparing Yamaguchi a glance.

“Just think about it, Tadashi,” he eventually uttered with a note of finality.

Yamaguchi didn’t know if that was his cue to be dismissed, but he took it as one regardless. He grasped shakily for the doorknob despite his legs feeling like lead and slowly exited the room. After shutting the door so carefully there was no sound, he stood staring at the dark wood of the door for probably a good three minutes.

Once he finally tore himself away from the door, he absentmindedly walked through the hallways, unseeing of his surroundings. Even if his mind wasn’t working, his body was, so he continued walking throughout the building, unknowing even if someone were to try to stop him. 

His head was fuzzy, but when he brought a hand up to his lips to gently caress them, he had one thought. 

That was his first kiss. 

He had wanted it to be with someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O 
> 
> Okay, I know that was a long chapter and a lot to take in. This is really where the story takes off, so I hope you enjoy the content heavy chapters! (And I will tag appropriately) Also, there will be a lot of insight into the mental states of the characters as well as their relationships so get ready :D
> 
> I really, really hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so much for reading this. Also, please let me know if you would like a list of the abilities of the characters mentioned so far! I know it can be hard to follow! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fragility of friendship is tested and decisions are made.

Yamaguchi stared down at the plate in front of him.

The team was in the cafeteria for lunch, and they had been mostly undisturbed that day. Tanaka and Asahi both had solo ability sessions that morning, but other than that it had been a peaceful day. 

He idly pushed around the food on his plate, eyes unseeing of what it was that he was actually pushing around. The whole morning he had been on autopilot, but no one seemed to notice. Except Tsukki. 

The moment he arrived back at the room last night, he curled up in his bed and pulled the covers up high. Since they were all still sleeping on the ground in a big sleeping pile, he would’ve caught someone’s attention eventually. But Tsukki noticed him first and quietly sat down on his bed.

_“Yamaguchi. Why are you sleeping here?”_

_Yamaguchi felt pretty lightheaded and didn’t want to answer, but just the sound of Tsukki’s voice made him feel a little stronger._

_“No reason, Tsukki. I’m just tired, it was a long day.”_

_It was quiet behind him for a moment, but the other boy answered, “Yeah, it was. Get some sleep.”_

_Yamaguchi nodded as he tried to hold back the tears that were now suddenly starting to slip. For some reason Tsukishima being worried about him made him want to cry more than anything else._

_He heard the other boy go into the small connecting living suite before he returned and Yamaguchi saw a glass of water was placed on his end table._

_Distantly, he heard Suga ask, “Is Yamaguchi okay? Why is he sleeping over there?”_

_“He’s not feeling well,” Tsukishima answered immediately, and Yamaguchi felt his heart clench at how Tsukishima made sure he wouldn’t be bothered._

_“Oh, okay…” Suga replied with a hint of sadness._

_The last thing Yamaguchi noted was that Tsukishima had slept on the bed next to him instead of the ground._

Now, as he continued to stare down at the plate of food in front of him, Tsukishima once again was watching him carefully.

A few strawberries suddenly came into his line of sight and he realized that Tsukishima had subtly snuck a few of his strawberries onto Yamaguchi’s plate.

For the first time that day, Yamaguchi felt a tiny smile come over his face. He turned towards the blonde with a grateful smile. He didn’t love strawberries like Tsukki did, but the gesture made him happier than he could describe.

That happiness was unfortunately extinguished by the sound of his name being called by one of the workers.

“Yamaguchi Tadashi. You have a session with Dr. Hishino. Please come with me.”

The air was punched out of him as all of the anxiety and fear from last night came back to him, and all he could focus on was the screaming in his head telling him to run away. 

He couldn’t go back. If he went back, it would happen for real this time. He would have to do it to protect the team. He couldn’t go, he couldn’t, he had to get out of there. He had to- Tsukki, he had to-

“Yamaguchi Tadashi-”

The feeling of a hand on his shoulder is what triggered him. His head was blank as he shot out of his seat and ran. He didn’t have any idea where he was running. He just had to get out of there. He couldn’t go back.

He ran out of the cafeteria into the connecting hallways, not the slightest bit sure where he was going but not caring either. His body just wouldn’t stop running.

But at some point, he heard a high pitched voice behind him.

“Yamaguchi! Yamaguchi, wait I'm coming!”

He barely turned to see Hinata chasing after him, stopping momentarily out of sheer surprise.

“I'm here Yamaguchi!” the other boy yelled out as he caught up to him, “I'll help you with whatever you need! C'mon, let’s get out of here!”

The freckled boy was stunned for a moment and vaguely registered a pressure in his chest that felt nothing like the anxiety he was also juggling. It was a warm feeling.

But he was still in an anxious daze and his mind could only focus on the thoughts _'escape, escape, escape,'_ so when the workers started catching up to them, he was off running again, this time side by side with Hinata. His head was still flooded with anxiety, but it cleared a little bit so that he could actually see where he was going.

“Hurry! This way Yamaguchi!” Hinata grabbed his shirt and pulled him down a corridor. When they rounded the corner it was empty, but the other end of it suddenly filled with workers.

“Oh cra- Go go go! C’mon this way!” Hinata once again grabbed his shirt and pulled him down another corridor. It was bigger down this hallway, more open, and at the end of it was a metal detector like you would find when you’re in an airport.

It looked like an exit.

“Oh my god- Is that an exit?! Hurry, let’s go!” Hinata turned around wildly, grabbing Yamaguchi’s hand as they ran down the enormous corridor. It really did look like the entrance or exit to a building. The ceiling was high and the large windows showed the bright midday sun. 

He felt the barest hint of hope.

The metal detector was closed off, but Hinata jumped over the surrounding turnstiles and helped Yamaguchi over, who didn’t have the enhanced abilities of Hinata.

As they made it over though, the workers had caught up and were running at them full speed. Yamaguchi vaguely considered it odd that they weren’t activating the collars, but was quickly distracted by Hinata sprinting towards the doors.

Without hesitation, he pushed as hard as he could on the giant doors. But they didn’t budge.

“No. No no no no! C’mon open!” the smaller boy yelled at the door.

Yamaguchi tried to help him push open the door, but it wasn’t moving.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a hand grab the back of Hinata’s shirt, and the next thing he knew the other boy was being dragged backwards by his shirt.

“No! Let me go!” Hinata yelled.

Without a second thought, Yamaguchi immediately ran after him and pushed the man grabbing Hinata as hard as he could.

“Let him go!” Yamaguchi cried.

He continued fighting the man who grabbed Hinata, but was easily pushed to the ground. He got back up immediately and renewed his efforts.

“I said let him go! Go away! Just go away!” Yamaguchi yelled and hit the man’s arms, desperately trying to pull his grip away from Hinata.

He was pushed again, only this time with a lot more force, and fell onto the gated area around the metal detector. His head hit first, and the dizziness he got from that almost numbed out everything else. But he still felt a sharp pain go through his arm, vaguely registering the large gash that cut through his long sleeve and into a deep cut down his arm.

On autopilot, he tried standing up again to help Hinata, stumbling as he struggled to see through the fuzziness in his eyes. He could vaguely hear Hinata screaming.

“-me go! You-! I hate you!” the orange haired boy yelled as he finally got his feet underneath him.

There were quite a few workers in the corridor now, but they were struggling to get a handle on the both of them still. Yet, Yamaguchi’s eyes could barely make out one of the workers approaching him angrily holding what looked like a weird gun.

“You know what? I’m done with this,” the worker, who was scarily muscled and quite frustrated looking, growled out, “Let’s just get rid of him.”

“Oi, we can’t do that, Akiya is going to kill you if you-”

“Fuck Akiya. Let’s just kill this one. He’s not worth anything anyways.”

Yamaguchi’s head was still spinning, but given that the weird gun was pointed at him, he eventually realized that they were talking about him.

The other worker made no move to argue with him again, so the man steadied the gun and turned off the safety. Yamaguchi’s head hurt and he was having trouble seeing, but he realized that he was about to be shot. He was about to die. 

His eyes went wide as he stared down the barrel of the strange gun, thoughts torn between running away, fighting him off, and Tsukki. Yet, just as the worker in front of him narrowed his eyes on the freckled boy and readied himself to shoot, Hinata let out a scream and with a strength Yamaguchi had never seen before, head butted the man holding him so hard that the man hit the ground in the blink of an eye.

The worker glanced at Hinata for a moment before the small middle blocker ran over to him equally as quickly, so fast that they could barely register it. 

Yet, before Yamaguchi could even turn to see more clearly, a loud shot echoed throughout the corridor.

Unlike how these things always went in movies, Yamaguchi hadn’t closed his eyes when the gun went off. So the sight of Hinata hitting the ground directly in front of him within a fraction of a second would haunt him until the day he died.

~

The team sat in their room with a deafening silence surrounding them.

Many of them had silent tears running down their faces, since they had run out of energy to openly cry, but others just numbly stared off into the distance. 

No one had spoken since they were returned to the room.

But Noya couldn’t handle it anymore, and as quiet as anyone could remember him sounding, sniffled, “Is Shoyou gonna be okay?”

It was the question that they had all been thinking.

After the gun went off, Akiya and some other higher ups had reached the area that Hinata and Yamaguchi were at and whisked Hinata away to give him medical attention. They called for Suga first, to try and see if he could heal him with his ability, but apparently the gun he was shot with was meant to injure not only the body but also the mind of someone. It was typically used to kill those who couldn’t be injured easily because of their ability, so it was able to target the ability of someone which drained them and made them more susceptible to injury. Suga could help as much as he could with Hinata’s physical state, but he didn’t have the ability to restore his mind or energy.

So here they were. Left with not knowing whether the boy would survive or not.

Suga didn’t have the energy to answer Noya, just continuing to stare down at the floor with tears running down his face as he slumped against the wall by his bed.

Daichi glanced at the other with a worried expression, but turned to Noya and softly answered, “I...I’m not sure Noya. But they have extremely good medical attention here and technology that we’ve never heard of, so that gives us some hope.”

Tanaka clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, trying to subdue his anger. After he learned what happened, he had been so angry that he attacked the workers, but his collar was activated and he was rendered unconscious until he woke up back in the room. Asahi was rubbing his back soothingly now, despite being an absolute mess himself, but it was doing little to calm him.

The room returned to a tense silence.

Daichi didn’t know what he could do, which was killing him, but he felt like he had to do something as captain. 

“I’ll get us some water. Tsukishima, can you help me?”

The blonde stood from where he was sitting next to Yamaguchi and followed Daichi to the connecting living suite where the water dispenser was.

They returned to the room with a few glasses of water, making a few trips, but no one seemed to want to drink.

Tsukishima sat back down next to Yamaguchi and offered him the glass of water.

“Here, drink. You need to rehydrate.”

Yamaguchi had his head hanging so low that he couldn’t see his face at all, completely curled into himself, but he could hear him breathe, “No thanks, Tsukki. I’ll drink it later.”

“Yamaguchi. Just drink it.”

The freckled boy didn’t lift his head at all, but he gently reached over and took the glass from the taller boy, clearly not having the energy to argue with him.

But as he reached over, Tsukishima saw the long slit down his long sleeve shirt which revealed a deep gash that ran down his entire arm.

Tsukishima’s eyes widened and he gently grabbed Yamaguchi’s wrist.

“What is this? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Yamaguchi finally lifted his head slightly and glanced in confusion at his arm.

“Oh. I guess I didn’t notice it…”

Tsukishima sighed and turned the other boy slightly so that he could access his arm more easily. He ripped the sleeve all the way and inspected the cut.

“This is really bad, Yamaguchi. You need stitches. Maybe more.”

“It’s fine, Tsukki. It’ll go away-”

“No, it’ll get infected and make you sick.”

Yamaguchi didn’t answer him and just turned his head away.

The blonde pondered their options, eventually turning to where Suga sat and voicing, “Suga-san. Yamaguchi’s hurt. He has a bad cut down his arm.”

Suga was snapped out of his daze momentarily, looking over at Yamaguchi with worried eyes.

He looked like he was about to get up, but Kageyama, who hadn’t said a word since they learned what happened to Hinata, spoke up for the first time.

“Who cares.”

The air stilled as many of them looked in shock at the dark-haired first year.

“Kageyama!” Suga began stunned, “Don’t say that!”

The setter just looked away with tired eyes and didn’t say another word.

Tsukishima stared at the other first year with piercing eyes, giving him a look that said something bad would happen if he said one more word.

Yamaguchi, however, ignored the way his heart clenched painfully and turned away once more, holding his arm protectively. His head was pounding and he was exhausted. He just wanted to sleep forever. 

He rested his head against the wall and felt himself falling asleep, only barely staying awake when he felt gentle hands examine his arm. He didn’t move, but he could tell that it was Suga looking him over. 

The third year couldn’t heal him now, since they had their collars activated, but Yamaguchi vaguely registered him softly wiping the dried blood off his arm with a soft towel and some warm water, before carefully cleaning the cut as best as he could.

Exhaustion finally overtook Yamaguchi as he fell asleep to the other’s gentle ministrations.

~

The next day came quickly, and despite the events of yesterday, they were still summoned to go to the first year’s group ability session. The teacher was oddly late, so it was just Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi in the room. 

The room was dead silent.

Yamaguchi couldn’t get the sight of Hinata on the floor out of his head. He woke up at some point last night gasping from a nightmare, and didn’t sleep for another minute after that. He doubted he would tonight either. Yet, no matter if his eyes were open or closed, he was haunted by that sight. 

He would do anything for Hinata to be okay. 

His jumbled thoughts and visions were interrupted by a barely perceptible voice from the corner of the room where Kageyama sat.

“...why did you run?”

The voice was quiet, but there was an underlying rage there that made the freckled boy shiver. He turned his blood shot eyes towards Kageyama, who was hunched over in his chair, face not visible.

Before Yamaguchi could ask him what he meant, the other boy continued, starting with a deadly quiet, “Why did you run when they called you?”

Yamaguchi stuttered on his own breath as he thought of how to answer. He couldn’t tell him the truth, he couldn’t tell him why he was so desperate to get out of that situation.

“...We all have to go to those shitty sessions,” Kageyama continued, “We all have to wear collars and get weird shots. We’re all going through the exact same thing, so why did you run?!”

Yamaguchi flinched as the other boy's voice raised at the end into a shout. 

“I-I’m...I’m sorr-”

“He might die you know?” Kageyama spoke over him angrily, now making very direct eye contact, “He might die because of you!”

As Kageyama continued, Yamaguchi couldn’t stop the tears falling down his face. They weren’t tears because Kageyama was yelling at him, they were tears because he agreed. He didn’t know Hinata would follow him, but it didn’t matter. It doesn’t even matter that he knows it’s his fault, he just wants Hinata to be okay. That’s all he wants.

“Oi, king,” Tsukishima interjected warningly, “Watch it.”

“No!” Kageyama suddenly stood up as he shouted, slowly closing in on Yamaguchi who was sitting a few meters away, “If you hadn't ran away, Hinata wouldn’t be bleeding out on a table right now!”

Kageyama seemed to be losing himself, his eyes were glazed over in rage and his hands were actually shaking.

“If you hadn’t been such a coward, he would be here!”

Kageyama suddenly grabbed Yamaguchi by the shirt and pushed him to the ground, straddling him with a manic look on his face. Yamaguchi knew Kageyama wasn’t in his right mind. The boy who loved milk and asked Yamaguchi to practice serves with him would never do this. Yet, as he saw the other’s fist raise, he began to wonder whether this was happening because he truly deserved it.

Before the fist could land, however, Kageyama’s weight was thrown off of him and he could make out the figures of Tsukishima and Kageyama a few feet away. 

Tsukishima was now straddling Kageyama with hands wrapped around the latter’s throat to keep him still. 

There was a momentary struggle, but apparently Tsukishima was squeezing tight enough that the dark haired boy was forced to grasp at his wrists instead of pushing his body.

The blonde looked straight into the other’s eyes and growled in a dangerous voice, “You don’t touch him. Ever.”

Tsukishima’s voice was deadlier than Yamaguchi had ever heard it, but he was too busy trying to calm his breathing to really ponder that thought for long. 

Seeing as Tsukishima was releasing the other’s throat slowly and wasn’t actually going to choke him out, Yamaguchi backed himself up against a wall and tried to slow his breathing. His sobs seemed to be forced out of him, and no matter how hard he tried they wouldn’t stop.

Kageyama half-heartedly pushed Tsukishima off of him and slowly stood up.

For a moment, he gave Yamaguchi a glance that revealed the slightest bit of guilt as the freckled boy took in heaving breaths against the wall, but it was quickly replaced by anger as the boy marched out of the room, slamming the door as loud as possible.

As soon as he left, Tsukishima looked over at the boy hyperventilating against the wall and sat next to him carefully. 

“Shhh...just breathe slowly, Yamaguchi. You can do this. It’s okay.” 

Tsukishima was awful at comforting people, but this place had a knack for producing rare circumstances, and seeing his childhood friend get attacked by their teammate and struggling to breathe triggered a desperation within him.

“Hey. I’m here, it’s okay Yamaguchi. I’m right here. Just breathe,” the blonde lightly pulled Yamaguchi into his side since his words weren’t calming down the other boy enough. He smoothed back Yamaguchi’s hair from his face to stop the growing hair from sticking to the tears streaming down his face.

In response, the freckled boy tucked his face into Tsukishima’s side, trying to control his breathing and also wanting to disappear. 

They stayed like that for probably an hour, if Tsukishima had to guess. Long enough that Yamaguchi’s breathing had evened out and he was now half-asleep draped on top of Tsukishima, completely exhausted after sobbing for so long.

The taller boy stared at the opposite wall as he idly stroked Yamaguchi’s hair, listening to his soft breathing as he ruminated. 

He had to work faster. He had been stealthily learning more about this place, how everything worked, and he had managed to discover an interesting secret about the collars. Yet, that wasn’t enough to get them out of here. 

He looked down at Yamaguchi’s sleeping face and thumbed at the freckles on his slightly plump cheek, still round with youthfulness. He still looked exactly the same as he did when they first met, just taller, Tsukishima thought amusedly. 

Sighing, Tsukishima tilted his head back until it hit the wall once again, returning his gaze to the opposite wall.

Tsukishima _had_ to work faster. He had most of the parts put together, but there were a few missing pieces that he needed to complete the puzzle.

He didn’t miss the fact that the teacher never showed up.

~

The next evening at dinner, the team - minus Hinata - found themselves once again in the cafeteria. Another day had passed and they still hadn’t gotten any updates on Hinata. They supposed that was both a blessing and a curse.

The atmosphere was still tense, but the edge had been mostly taken off and the team was talking more. In fact, most of them seemed to stick even closer than usual.

Tsukishima had noticed that Yamaguchi had been quiet all day, though. The freckled boy had always stuck to the back a bit more, but he hadn’t said one word today. He looked like he was thinking.

Yet Tsukishima didn’t comment on it, choosing instead to subtly watch the other pretend to eat his food.

Kageyama was in a similar state, pushing his food around on his plate and not saying a word. But Tsukishima couldn’t bring himself to care much about that at the moment.

“Listen,” Daichi spoke up while they were eating in a quiet voice, “I probably shouldn’t say this here and now, but I think we should take a small break with the escape plan.”

The table looked at him in surprise.

“I know, I know. But listen, I don’t mean permanently. I just mean until Hinata gets better. Now that we know exactly what could happen if we are unsuccessful in our escape attempt, we need to be absolutely sure that the plan will work. I don’t want anymore of you getting hurt.”

They pondered his words with sour expressions, because they knew he was right. If they didn’t do everything exactly right, it was highly likely they’d all be killed. And no one was really in the mood for escape planning while they still didn’t know about Hinata.

“Okay...” Suga eventually answered sadly, “You’re right. It’s safer that way. I couldn’t handle it if anymore of you got hurt.”

Reluctantly, the rest agreed, while Kageyama and Yamaguchi just continued to stare at their plates. 

“Then let’s just stick close together, and keep an eye out for each other, okay?” Suga added.

The team nodded before returning to their meals.

Tsukishima understood Daichi’s reasoning, but he also knew that there was more going on than they knew. Sure, they gave them an enormous suite, clean clothes, and whatever food they asked for, but it was all a part of the act. Surely even someone like Noya could see that.

He saw it in how Yamaguchi’s clothes hung off him more and more each day, in how he used to smile at the slightest thing and he hadn’t smiled once today. 

They were interrupted by a staff member approaching their table once again. She held a clipboard and looked directly at Tsukishima’s side.

“Yamaguchi Tadashi. You have a session with Dr. Hishino.”

Tsukishima watched as the boy didn’t even look up from his plate. Just sat there silently and pushed around the food on his plate. 

.....

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely love Kageyama and Yamaguchi's relationship so of course I do this :)))
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments last chapter, they mean so much to me!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm so excited to share another chapter! I have made a small list of the character's abilities who have been mentioned so far, just for the sake of clarity! 
> 
> Hinata- Teleportation  
> Kageyama- Power absorption  
> Yamaguchi- No ability  
> Tsukishima- Force field projection  
> Suga- Healing  
> Daichi- Telekinesis  
> Noya- Electric manipulation  
> Asahi- Invisibility  
> Tanaka- Fire
> 
> Kuroo- Psychometry  
> Kenma- Telepathy, including manipulation  
> Lev- Elasticity  
> Yaku- Enhanced speed
> 
> Bokuto- Enhanced strength  
> Akaashi- Pathokinesis
> 
> Ushijima- Invulnerabilty  
> Tendou- Precognition
> 
> I really hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger Warning:** Non-explicit non-consensual touching. I want to make it very clear that Yamaguchi is not abused all the way if you understand what I mean. It is all non-consensual touching. And while it is non-explicit, I know that that can be even more impactful sometimes and it is a major plot point, so please take care of yourselves!

It had been a week, and the news they had all been waiting for had finally come.

The team was in their shared room getting ready for the day when they heard the telltale click of the door meaning someone was about to enter. When it opened, Dr. Akiya was standing in the doorway holding a clipboard as usual. 

“Good morning everyone. I hope you’re doing well. I know it’s been a tough week for you all, but you’ve behaved so well, and I have some great news for you all.”

Moving to the side, Dr. Akiya revealed Hinata in a wheelchair in the hallway behind him, wearing a huge smile on his face.

“Hinata!” 

“Shoyou!”

“Oh my god Hinata!”

As the small middle blocker wheeled into the room, he was bombarded by the team. Suga was crying and holding his face between his hands, while Noya was practically sitting on top of him until Asahi pulled him off in case he injured him. He was completely surrounded by the team, tears falling freely, as they hugged him as proof that he was truly there.

Dr. Akiya quietly left the room and closed the door.

“Hinata, oh my gosh, you’re here! You’re okay! I’m-I’m so…” Suga couldn’t finish his sentence as he started crying again. 

Daichi comforted the other with tears in his eyes as well, holding Hinata’s hand to make sure he was really there.

Hinata laughed brightly and exclaimed, “I missed you guys so much!”

Tanaka and Noya hung off of Asahi as they suppressed the urge to bundle Hinata up and squeeze him.

They backed up the slightest bit to give the boy a little bit of air, and that’s when Yamaguchi seized the chance to see the other first year.

He pushed through as best as he could and felt tears gather in his eyes at the sight of his friend.

“Hinata...I’m s-so happy you’re okay,” Yamaguchi started, doing his best not to cry, “I can’t believe...I am _so_ sorry, Hinata. It’s all my fault-”

He felt a hand wrap around his wrist before Hinata was pulling him forward into a hug, Yamaguchi doing his best not to fall on top of the smaller boy in the wheelchair.

“I’m really glad you’re okay, Yamaguchi-kun,” Hinata said through a wide smile, eyes pinched shut as he squeezed Yamaguchi, “I didn’t know what happened to you after. I missed you a lot!”

Yamaguchi let the tears fall as he gently squeezed Hinata back, smiling for the first time in awhile. 

“I missed you a lot too, Hinata,” he answered with a watery smile, more thankful than he could voice that his friend was okay.

“Hey, shrimp,” an unamused voice sounded from near the hugging pair, “You’re going to send Yamaguchi to the med ward too if you keep squeezing him that hard.”

“Tsukishima! I knew you missed me!” Hinata exclaimed smugly.

“What? I didn’t even say- What are you- How does that mean I missed you?” the blonde answered clearly flustered. 

Hinata giggled, “I can tell! Look, you’re blushing!”

“I am _not_.”

“Yes you are!”

“I’m- Forget it,” the blonde answered and turned away, causing the others to laugh, but before he left he added, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Hinata gave him a genuine smile before his eyes fell on Kageyama, who was still standing in the back just staring at Hinata.

The pair stared at each other for a few moments, not making any move, until Hinata softly spoke.

“Kageyama…”

Before he could say anything else, the other boy turned away and disappeared into the bathroom.

“Kageyama!” Hinata yelled and made to move his wheelchair to follow him, but Suga put a gentle hand on his arm.

“Hinata, give him a moment. He’s had a rough week.”

Hinata looked conflicted, like he didn’t understand why Kageyama would react like that, but listened to Suga’s words. The silver haired teen ran a hand through Hinata’s hair before turning to the rest of the team.

“Well, let’s celebrate! Hinata is back!” he cheered.

The rest of the team erupted into joyful exclamations and they began tearing the room apart to form a miniature party with whatever they could.

They started by turning their beds and blankets into an enormous fort, and grabbed whatever snacks they had slowly been accumulating into a pile. 

For the first time in a while, everyone was smiling. Tanaka pulled out a card game from their small activity corner and started a friendly game, while others were just talking amongst themselves. Muffled laughter filled the room as Suga sat behind Tanaka and signed out which cards he had to Yamaguchi. Even Tsukishima had a small smile on his face.

While the games and snacking continued, Hinata couldn’t turn his thoughts away from Kageyama, who was still hiding in the bathroom suite. It hurt him that Kageyama reacted that way. He had been so excited to see him again and he just…

Resolving himself, Hinata waited until everyone was distracted by the game and slowly wheeled towards the connecting suite.

He entered the bathroom and it was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the muted laughter coming from the other room. As he explored the shower room, he finally found Kageyama sitting at the very end of the room on a bench.

Wheels slowly tread across the still slightly damp floor and he stopped a few feet in front of Kageyama.

No words were exchanged. Hinata stared at the other boy who was looking down at his hands. Yet, the longer he stared, the angrier he got.

Eventually, his annoyance got the better of him and he yelled, “Hey! Stop ignoring me! I’m right here, so why won’t you talk to me.”

Hinata got the reaction he wanted as Kageyama’s head shot up with a glare.

“Yeah, well you weren’t here before! For so long! Why did you do that? Why did you have to go and run away like that?!” the other boy yelled just as angrily.

“Because Yamaguchi was in trouble! He was scared and needed help and that’s what friends do!” Hinata yelled back with finality.

Kageyama huffed as he looked away from the orange haired boy, crossing his arms. But as the seconds passed, a sad look passed over his face.

When he spoke next, it was much more quiet, murmuring, “...I thought you were going to die. I thought you would die, and we would never play together again. I would never see you again.”

Hinata swallowed thickly as he fiddled with the arms of his wheelchair.

“I’m sorry...I didn’t know that would happen. I just...I didn’t think I guess.”

A tiny smirk came over Kageyama’s face at that as he commented, “You never do, idiot.”

Hinata reached over to slap his arm, but Kageyama didn’t slap back. He just kept staring at Hinata.

“I really missed you,” Kageyama whispered, and Hinata’s eyes widened at the admission “You better not ever do that again dumbass.”

Hinata laughed brightly and reached forward like he was trying to hug Kageyama but forgot he was in a wheelchair.

Surprisingly though, Kageyama just stood up and wrapped his arms around Hinata, and the pair squeezed each other tightly without saying another word.

Things really did seem to be looking up.

~

“I lost my ability.”

The words were spoken quietly, almost in a whisper, but Yamaguchi felt them clearly enough on his bare collarbone. It was nearing the end of one of their ‘sessions,’ and he and Hishino were sitting on the beige colored couch that Yamaguchi had come to hate. The other usually cuddled him in some way after he was done doing whatever he wanted to Yamaguchi. During their sessions, though, he never made Yamaguchi do anything, and Hishino was always fully clothed. He just did things to Yamaguchi. Right now he was playing with Yamaguchi’s too long hair, running his fingers through the strands that desperately need a cut. 

Yamaguchi didn’t respond to his words.

“When I was a student here,” the other continued unperturbed, “They gave me injections as well. I used to be able to manipulate plant matter. I could give houseplants a little extra green, or help an entire garden flourish.”

 _Or cause it to rot,_ Yamaguchi thought.

“But I guess one of the injections went wrong. Or maybe it was just one too many. I still don’t know. That day, I almost burned up from the inside out, only surviving because I had a friend with a well controlled ice ability. But afterwards...when I woke up, I felt empty.”

“I remember sitting up in one of the medical beds, and all the lights were off, and there was this tiny little orchid sitting on the windowsill. It wasn’t even budding yet, but I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t make it grow. It just stayed closed up,” he continued quietly as he traced the freckles on Yamaguchi’s ribs, “It felt so dark in that room.”

“But...I managed to make myself useful anyways. I researched whatever I could and worked hard to prove myself to them, and they eventually decided I would make a good teacher here,” he stopped tracing his freckles, “I want more than that for you, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi swallowed carefully.

“I want you to show everyone that you can become the greatest student they’ve ever seen. That you’ll be more powerful than anyone else.”

Yamaguchi didn’t want that anymore. He just wanted to go home.

“I can’t explain it, but I know you can do it.”

Hishino pressed gentle kisses on his neck down to his prominent collarbone, but Yamaguchi had lost the urge to flinch, so he just stared in front of him at the metal star figurine on the desk across the room. 

It was duller than he remembered.

That night they were all sleeping in the pile they created, except the pile had changed slightly. There were certain subsections now, like Daichi, Suga, Kageyama, and Hinata. 

Suga would typically help Hinata into bed at nights and tuck him in like he was four years old all while teasing him good naturedly. Afterwards he would lay down next to the small boy, followed by Daichi, and finally Kageyama would sleep as close as he could without it being considered cuddling.

Another little subsection would be Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

As Yamaguchi and Tsukishima settled into their little section, the freckled boy watched as Suga playfully pulled the blankets all the way over Hinata’s head, causing the smaller boy to cry out indignantly before giggling.

A small smile pulled at Yamaguchi’s lips. He kind of wished that he could join them. It would be nice to have Suga playfully pinch his cheeks before bed. Or to have Tanaka roughly ruffle his hair.

“Yamaguchi.”

The brunette turned around to find Tsukki holding out his pajama shirt for him. He had already taken off his glasses for bed. Yamaguchi always thought he looked so much younger like that.

“Oh right,” he said as he realized he forgot to change his shirt, “Thanks, Tsukki.”

He changed in the bathroom, citing that he also needed to brush his teeth, before settling back into his sheets.

But sleep didn’t come.

The room was dark. Way darker than Yamaguchi remembered it being. Wasn’t there moonlight from the window before?

And he couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t hear the snoring of any of his teammates. Or the quiet breathing of Tsukki.

He turned to check the blonde, sighing when he saw him sleeping with a peaceful expression. Yamaguchi kept watching him, trying to soak in some of that peace. 

Apparently it worked, because the next thing he knew, he was dreaming. And it wasn’t a nice dream.

It was filled with locked doors and beige sofas. With the glint from a desk toy or the flash of hardwood floor. And he couldn’t get out. He didn’t even have a collar in the dream, but he couldn’t get out, because he didn’t have an ability. A constant reminder that he was the weakest among them.

He was pulled out of the dark imagery eventually, but not with a shout like he expected. It was with a choked noise, and a soft hand on his shoulder.

He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear his sight to find what he instinctively knew would be Tsukki. While he was still adjusting, he grabbed the hand on his shoulder and squeezed, trying to ground himself as he adjusted.

The hand squeezed back imperceptivity, and he finally met Tsukki’s golden eyes, which looked so much brighter in the darkness. Beams of moonlight fell on them, illuminating their little section and making Tsukki’s hair look almost white instead of the blonde that it was. Ah, there was the moonlight.

They turned towards each other and watched each other’s faces in the silence of the room. No words were exchanged between them, but they never let go of each other’s hand. 

Yamaguchi opened his mouth to speak before closing it again. He did that probably five times, before simply saying, “Sorry, Tsukki.”

It was one of the few times Yamaguchi meant it.

_Sorry I don’t have an ability. Sorry I got Hinata hurt. Sorry I can’t save you. Sorry I can’t even save myself._

Truthfully, Yamaguchi wasn’t the type to pity himself. He knew his shortcomings, and he worked hard to fix them. But these were things he couldn’t fix.

Tsukishima didn’t say anything back, but he did flip Yamaguchi’s hand over and start tracing things.

It was something they used to do when they were younger. Especially during sleepovers when it was late into the night so they could be too loud, but they still wanted to talk.

He didn’t trace any words, though, just little shapes. It did the trick in calming Yamaguchi down. The feeling of Tsukki’s long, skilled fingers brushing his own soft palm. He fell asleep to the shape of a star.

~

Not much changed while they were in this place, but there was one very significant change that shocked them all.

Ability sessions now included volleyball games with other teams. _And_ their collars were deactivated during them.

They often had them play the sport they knew best to practice their abilities, but they never expected them to actually turn their collars off.

It was such a surprise that Daichi had actually asked why when Dr. Akiya told them the news. But the doctor just answered that they had more control over their powers now, so they could deactivate the collars occasionally. Daichi had a feeling it had a bit more to do with how ‘well-behaved’ they’d been lately. They were like dogs.

Still, he couldn’t deny that they had it pretty easy in this place. All they had to do was attend classes and they got anything they asked for. Noya had been taking full advantage of that, asking for sweets and games without hesitation.

They were currently playing a little game with Nekoma and Fukurodani, and since it wasn’t a serious game, they mixed up the teams and let any of them play any position. They made sure everyone on each side got a chance to play, but a few of them were busy in counseling sessions and such, like Kageyama, Tanaka, and Tsukishima. And Hinata couldn’t play, _much_ to his dismay, so he was just watching.

He had certainly thrown a fit about it though while they were picking teams. 

“C’mon Suga please~! I promise I won’t even jump!”

“Hinata, you’re still in a wheelchair, of course you’re not going to jump! Nothing you say is going to change my mind, so stop trying,” the third year gave him a sympathetic smile and ruffled his orange hair.

Hinata groaned and sat back with a pout before aggressively wheeling away, causing Suga to shake his head at the boy with a smile.

“Um...Suga-san?”

Suga turned towards the soft voice to find Yamaguchi glancing at him with fiddling fingers.

“Hey Yamaguchi, how are you feeling?” Suga asked with a smile.

“Um, I’m good,” he responded hesitantly.

“Yeah? How’s your arm? Are you up for playing today?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah! It’s a lot better. Thank you very much for helping me, Suga-san.”

“Of course, Yamaguchi,” he answered fondly, “I’m glad you can play, I want you on my team. So what did you want to ask?”

“Well...I, um, I was just wondering...if you had to, would you do something really scary to keep us all safe?”

Suga furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and tilted his head slightly, “What do you mean? Of course, I would! I would do anything for you all.”

“Oh,” Yamaguchi breathed, “Of course...I, um...y-you’re right. But what about- Even if- ...nevermind, I’m not sure what I was saying.”

“Are you okay, Tadashi? You haven’t looked well recently,” Suga asked in concern and pushed back Yamaguchi’s long fringe to feel his forehead, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Everything’s fine,” Yamaguchi answered quickly, but after a moment's hesitation, he added, “I just, um...well-”

“Ah!”

Suga turned quickly at the sound of Hinata’s voice to find the boy crashing into the side of the volleyball net.

“Shoyou!”

Suga quickly ran to Hinata and checked him over for injuries, scolding the boy once he was certain that he was fine.

Yamaguchi watched as the third year chastised Hinata, which quickly turned into play fighting as the pair swatted at each other and laughed. The freckled boy watched them for a few moments before he slowly turned his eyes to the ground and began walking away. 

_It’s fine,_ Yamaguchi thought. _They were all safe. They were all as happy as they could be in here. Yamaguchi would keep it that way._

The game finally began and miraculously, the building was still standing and there were no explosions or other dramatic events, but it was inarguably entertaining watching the teams play with their new abilities. 

Before they came here, their abilities were such that it only made a miniscule difference in games, so there didn’t need to be any rules against it.

Now, however, things were a _little_ bit different.

Kuroo laughed as Lev tried, and failed once again, to stretch his limbs to block out Kuroo’s spike. He had an elasticity ability, but out of everyone the giant first year had struggled the most to get control over it.

“Nice try, Lev. Again...” Kurro smirked, causing the first year to grimace angrily.

The current line up on one side was Kuroo, Daichi, Bokuto, Suga, Yamamoto, and Yamaguchi. On the other side was Kenma, Akaashi, Noya, Asahi, Lev, and Yaku.

“This seems unfair,” Kenma muttered.

“What?” Kuroo asked, “How?”

“You guys have three captains on your side!” Yaku exclaimed.

“Yeah but you have Kenma _and_ Akaashi and two great liberos,” Suga responded.

Yaku blushed at the inadvertent compliment, but Kenma quickly responded, “Yeah, but you also gave us Lev.”

The first year didn’t even notice the insult as he tried to spin a stray volleyball on his finger with Hinata on the sidelines and ended up hitting himself in the face.

Kuroo wanted to give a retort, but ended up replying, “Fair point.”

“C’mon, let’s just keep playing! We’ll beat them anyway!” Noya exclaimed loudly.  
Kenma sighed in dismay, but they went back to the game once more.

As the game continued, the rules of the game just got more and more blurred.

“You can’t _levitate_ the ball! That’s totally against the rules!” Yaku yelled as Daichi stopped the ball mid-air once again and brought it directly down the other side of the net.

“Why not?” Kuroo smirked and leaned on Daichi’s shoulder, “We never set up any rules against it.”

“Because what’s the point of playing if he can do that!” Yaku replied.

“Well Kenma keeps reading exactly what I’m going to do! Get out of my head Kenma!” Bokuto yelled at the setter across the net who smirked in response.

“I’m pretty sure no aspect of this game follows the V.League rules…” Akaashi added.

Suga laughed at their arguing and smacked the ball a few times, getting ready to serve even if they weren’t ready. 

He hit the ball over and Noya received it expertly, sending it to Kenma who set it to Asahi, who looked a little unsure about the Kuroo, Daichi, and Bokuto block he was about to face. Yet, with a subtle touch from Akaashi, he felt a confidence like never before and smacked the ball with pinpoint accuracy at their fingertips until it flew across the room. 

It looked like it was way out of reach, but Suga was prepared and was able to receive it, sending it back and yelling, “Yamaguchi!” 

The first year saw the ball flying back towards the net and steeled himself to push it over the rest of the way. However, Kuroo must not have heard Suga’s yell and went after the ball as well.

Just as Yamaguchi jumped to send it over, Kuroo jumped as well, seeing his mistake too late and unable to stop his trajectory. With a loud smack, the Nekoma captain ran into Yamaguchi, sending them both to the floor.

Unfortunately, the bigger teen had landed on top of the smaller boy, but he had the sense to protect the other’s head before he hit the ground. 

Both teams ran over to see if they were okay, thankful to see Yamaguchi grimacing but looking otherwise okay.

“Are you guys okay?!” Bokuto asked.

“I’m fine, really I’m okay!” Yamaguchi assured, sitting up carefully.

Yet, Kuroo still hadn’t said a word as he stayed half on top of Yamaguchi from where he fell.

“Kuroo?” Daichi asked with uncertainty, “You okay?”

Kuroo’s face was in complete shock as he stared at the freckled boy’s face.

The thing about Kuroo is that he had psychometry, which meant he could learn things about an object or person by touching them. And evidently, he had just learned something about Yamaguchi that shook him to the core.

“You...oh god. No no no, that can’t be…”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened as he realized what Kuroo had just discovered, breath quickening. 

Kuroo looked absolutely distraught as he observed the other, “Why-why haven’t you said anything?”

The first year’s breathing was getting more erratic and he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Kuroo would tell everyone. He didn’t want his team to know. It was humiliating! He didn’t want Tsukki to know!

Quickly, Yamaguchi slipped out from underneath Kuroo and ran out of the recreation room, disappearing from their sights. 

Suga was yelling after the other boy, but when he didn’t stop, he turned back to Kuroo.

“Kuroo, what is going on?! Why did Yamaguchi run away?” Suga exclaimed.

But Kuroo didn’t respond. He looked furious. His fists were clenched and he was shaking in anger. 

He never wanted to learn that. No one deserved to be blackmailed that way, especially not someone as kind as Karasuno’s pinch server. Oh god, that was Tsukki’s best friend. He knew exactly how much he cared about the freckled boy.

His raging thoughts were interrupted by a familiar soft voice, “...Kuroo?”

He looked up to see Kenma watching him worriedly, and something snapped in him as he thought, _that could have been Kenma._

Without thinking, the Nekoma captain stood up and walked straight over to one of the workers who was watching over them before punching them in the face so hard that they hit the ground with a smack.

Chaos broke out after that as the workers sprung into action and the players tried to keep each other safe.

After Kuroo punched the guy he simply stood still unresisting as one of the workers grabbed him. A few members from Nekoma and Karasuno tried to tear him away, but he was already being led out of the room.

Kuroo was taken away eventually and the teams were all separated, but just before that Kenma had read exactly what was going through Kuroo’s mind, and thus the truth about Yamaguchi was exposed to the rest of them.

~

Kei was smart. It was something that was well-known within his team and anyone who knew him really. So he didn’t find it too difficult to sneak into the office of his assigned counselor to search her computer.

Immediately after his session was over, he left as usual. Except he didn’t return to the rec room. He moved silently to the hallway over and found the office of his counselor, which he was able to glean from her through a few skillfully phrased questions.

That was also how he learned that most of the students' information was logged into their system. So, he typed in the username and passcode that he found in one of his previous sessions, and clicked on every icon available.

It took awhile, but eventually he came across one that took him to a homepage that looked like a database. There were multiple tabs labeled with words he had never seen before, but in the corner there was a search function.

He typed in one name.

The search term _Yamaguchi Tadashi_ took him straight to the freckled boy’s profile. There was the basic information he expected -age, height, weight, no ability- but what he was looking for was more specific.

He had started to suspect after their first group counseling session, but he had been listening to the workers here, and it seemed that they were all in agreement that Yamaguchi’s continued presence was odd since he had no ability.

There, under notes, he found something.

**Counselor Notes/ Hishino:**

_Subject is progressing. Suggested stronger dosage as well as increased sessions._

**Instructor Notes/ Furuya:**

_No progress in subject. Unable to alter plant matter. Inclusion in group ability sessions yields no results; pressure from peers own advancement unsuccessful. Cost is outweighing results. Suggested termination as initially planned._

Kei read the date on instructor notes. It was yesterday.

Ignoring his rapid thoughts, he quickly scrolled to the following tab that simply read ‘Schedule.’

There were sessions and meals planned for Yamaguchi since their first day here, but as he looked about eight days ahead it suddenly went blank.

There was nothing. No more sessions, no more meals, no more rec time. On the last day there was just one link which read ‘ION 10-36.’

He clicked on it.

_Lethal Injection._

Kei blinked.

He swallowed.

He closed out of the tabs, shut off the computer, and he left.

~

Kageyama just finished a solo ability session and decided to return to the room, since they only had a few more minutes until dinner. He felt pretty sweaty after the session, and he just wanted to change really fast.

Yawning, Kageyama stretched out an arm as he entered the room, yet soft crying stopped him in his tracks. He looked around to find Suga sitting on Yamaguchi’s bed, head in his hands as he cried softly.

Kageyama had no idea what to do, but he already had a sinking feeling in his stomach that left him on edge.

“Um, Suga-san?”

The third year looked up to find Kageyama staring at him in confusion before he wiped his nose and hiccupped again. He looked like he was going to say something but just kept crying.

Kageyama felt intensely uncomfortable, but he knew something really bad had to have happened to make Suga like this, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

It took a few moments but Suga finally answered with a soft cry, “I-it’s, it’s Tadashi.”

The first year became even more confused.

“What about Yamaguchi?”

“The d-doctor...the one who’s been giving T-Tadashi his sessions, Dr. Hishino, he…” his breath was coming out irregularly, “he’s been...blackmailing him. Hurting him,” he ended with a sob.

Confusion took over Kageyama, but there was also a sharp clench in his insides that made him feel sick.

“He’s been...what? What do you mean?”

Suga looked like he really didn’t want to answer, but he eventually replied, “Kuroo somehow, he found out, and he attacked them, but Daichi asked and then told me-” 

Kageyama was having a difficult time following the older boy.

“-No one knew, but he’s been...touching him, in exchange to keep us all safe.”

Kageyama’s heart stopped for a second.

For a few moments, the only noise you could hear was Suga’s quiet sobs, then Kageyama asked quietly, “...for how long?” 

Suga gave him a questioning look with tears splotching his face, but answered, “Kenma said...I think, just before Hinata got hurt.” 

Time stopped for Kageyama.

Just before Hinata got hurt.

Just before…

That was when Yamaguchi ran.

That was when he attacked Yamaguchi.

He had yelled that they were all going through the same thing. He had told him it was his fault that Hinata got hurt. He had called him a coward.

 _Oh my god,_ Kageyama thought, _it’s my fault he continued going to those sessions._

Kageyama stared at Suga’s crying face and felt his jaw clench in anger as he clenched his fists.

He was going to kill that doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions and comments are very welcome! I love all you guys who have been commenting, you make me so happy <3 Hope everyone is doing well!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reality of their situation is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is very mild but warning for non-graphic violence and mentions of blood! The story is at its darkest in the next few chapters, so please be aware! :)

Kageyama’s mind was blank as he advanced through the hallways with an express purpose. 

At first, his footsteps were driven by unadulterated rage, but as he continued through the hallways, his mind went blank and he felt almost as if he were possessed.

He could only think of one thing.

Turning the last corner, he finally approached the first year's corridor and prowled past the classrooms. A few of the classrooms had students in them, but none of them had the teacher he was looking for.

He remembered where the offices were though, so he continued his search without a pause.

Dark eyes scanned the doors until he came across one that simply read: _Dr. Itsuo Hishino._

Kageyama’s eyes flickered dangerously as he looked down at the doorknob and saw the light on underneath the door.

Carefully, he turned the knob and pushed it open slowly, darkly pleased to find it unlocked.

As he entered the room, the hostile aura he emitted was almost tangible. 

Without even looking around the room, Kageyama slowly closed the door behind him and locked it. 

“Kageyama Tobio?”

Dr. Hishino was sitting at his desk holding a forgotten pencil in his hand and wearing a questioning expression on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Dr. Hishino asked in confusion but not unpleasantly, “I don’t remember us having an appointment?”

Kageyama didn’t answer him. Truthfully he didn’t even acknowledge the man. He just examined his surroundings, looking for something in particular.

His gaze finally ran over Dr. Hishino’s desk to find a metal star figurine innocently sitting there. It looked heavy.

That would do.

Expression dark, Kageyama approached the desk and picked up the star figurine, testing it’s weight in his hands.

“Kageyama? Is there something wrong?”

He gripped the figurine with his trained fingers, and his eyes flashed upwards to meet Dr. Hishino’s.

“Listen, I have an appointment soon, so I’m going to need-”

It only took one hit.

The doctor’s body hit the desk so quickly and quietly Kageyama almost thought he hadn’t hit him at all, but his slumped, unmoving figure that now had was proof enough of what he had just done. A trickle of red fell delicately down the doctor’s obscured forehead, like paint that had been applied too heavily. 

Nothing changed after he did it. His mind was still oddly blank. He just set the figurine back down gently on the desk and walked right back out of the room. Not even bothering to shut the door.

When he returned to the room, he mechanically walked straight to his bed and sat on the edge, face revealing nothing. There were a few more people in there now. It looked like Hinata, Suga, Daichi, Noya, and Asahi.

Suga was watching him carefully.

“Kageyama? Are you alright?” the third year asked hesitantly, eyes still puffy from earlier.

Kageyama didn’t answer. He didn’t even give him any indication that he heard him.

Then Suga’s eyes flicked down to where his hands lay palms up in his lap.

“Kageyama...what’s on your hands?” Suga asked carefully.

He still didn’t answer him.

But he felt the bed dip next to him and gentle hands wrap around his wrist.

“What is...why does this look like blood?” Suga asked, almost to himself.

At that moment, a loud siren sounded over the intercom, causing the other boys in the room to jump.

“Is that a siren?” Daichi asked.

“What’s going on?” Hinata asked nervously.

Suga looked back frantically at Kageyama, and breathed in horror, “What did you do Kageyama?”

Kageyama didn’t answer.

Suga kneeled in front of the other and yelled more insistently this time, “Kageyama! What did you do?!”

The dark haired boy remained silent, and Suga was sure he wouldn’t speak, but finally a quiet mutter came from the boy.

“...he won’t hurt Yamaguchi anymore.”

Suga’s eyes slowly widened as he realized what happened.

The silver haired teen looked down at the floor which he knelt on and slowly released Kageyama’s wrists, moving his hands to rest on the other’s knees instead.

“Shit…” Suga swore, “Damnit...damnit, damnit. We’ve gotta get you out of here. They’re gonna-”

His sentence was interrupted by the door of their room being thrown open with Dr. Akiya standing in the doorway with quite a few other workers who held various weapons.

He and a few other workers entered the room and locked the door behind them, leaving the rest to guard the room outside.

“Well…” Dr. Akiya began almost too quietly to hear, “I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” 

The boys turned to face the doctor with fear in their eyes. Daichi put an arm in front of Hinata where the other boy had been resting in bed.

“I really did try to make it easier,” Akiya continued, “It would have been so nice if this could’ve just gone smoothly, but it appears that you all need special attention.”

His gaze flicked to Kageyama sharply, and Suga stood up in front of the boy with his arms out.

“Don’t touch him,” Suga growled.

Akiya ignored the angry teen and said something to one of the other staff members. They exchanged a few words, Akiya nodding and writing down a few things in a notebook.

Eventually he turned back to the boys and replied, “I’m afraid you no longer have the luxury of requesting things Sugawara Koushi. Don't worry, though, I won’t be singling Kageyama Tobio out.”

With a plastic smile and dead eyes, Akiya held up a device in his hands and declared, “From now on, things are going to be different for your group.”

The next thing they knew, they were knocked unconscious by their collars, and when they next woke up, they would realize just how true Akiya’s words were.

~

The most noticeable change Suga felt as he woke up was that it was much, much colder than the previous times he had woken up in a strange location.

The second one was the hardness of the ground he was lying on. Groaning, the third year sat up very slowly and felt the cold seeping through his palms from the icy flooring. When his vision had cleared enough, he realized that they were definitely not in the warmth and comfort of their shared room anymore.

They were in a cage. A cage with light grey walls and no furniture. It was completely empty.

Suga could easily imagine someone going insane staring at those light grey walls and he had only been conscious for ten seconds.

As his senses returned completely, he saw the entire team was in there with him. Even the ones who hadn’t been in the room when Dr. Akiya came. 

An arm wrapped around him softly to help him sit up all the way and he turned to find Daichi looking at him in concern, but Suga gave the other a soft smile and squeezed his hand to reassure him that he was fine.

A quick glance down revealed that Daichi had someone lying in his lap unconscious, and a glimpse of freckles revealed it to be Yamaguchi.

The heartache from before returned tenfold as Suga saw the boy for the first time since he learned the horrifying news.

Daichi watched as the soft smile on Suga’s face morphed into a poorly masked look of despair. Suga shuffled over on his knees and kneeled right next to the sleeping boy. He gently brushed the hair out of his face and thumbed the freckles on his cheeks so softly their skin barely made contact. A tear fell on Yamaguchi’s cheek and Suga quickly leaned back, realizing it was from him, before thumbing away the tear as well.

He was heartbroken. How had he not noticed anything? It was so clear now that he was staring directly at the boy’s face, the dark circles, the pale skin, the chapped lips...but Suga had been so distracted before. He had been so worried about keeping everyone safe, about making sure they all stayed together. And when Hinata got hurt, he had been terrified, and all he could think about was that he was going to lose him.

A hand cupped his cheek and softly wiped away the tears slowly falling down his face. Daichi tried to get him to meet his gaze, giving the other a warm, coaxing look.

“Hey...shhh, hey it’s going to be okay. We’re all together. We’re all here for each other. We won’t let anything happen.”

Suga blinked away the silent tears and looked up imploringly into Daichi’s face, whimpering, “Daichi...he tried to tell me. During our game, Tadashi tried to tell me what was happening to him, but I got distracted because Hinata was stuck, and I was still worried from when he was hurt, and-”

“Shhh,” Daichi caressed his cheek softly, “I know. I know. But it’s not your fault, none of us knew. There was so much to worry about, and we were just focused on staying alive. We shouldn’t have to do any of this, Suga-”

Daichi became more and more emotional as he spoke and Suga laid his hand over the one Daichi had on his cheek and squeezed it as more tears came to his eyes. 

The pair continued to squeeze each other’s hands, keeping the freckled boy between them as if they could protect him from everything outside of their little bubble.

Then a monotone voice came from behind them.

“Um...what’s going on?”

They turned to find Tsukishima staring at them with his usual stoic expression, but there was a questioning glint in his eye.

Suga and Daichi glanced at each other with wide eyes, both thinking the same thing. In fact, everyone in the room who was conscious, except Tsukishima, was thinking the same thing.

Oh god. No one wanted to tell Tsukishima what happened.

He was the only one who didn’t know, but no one had the heart to tell him. Even if he was cold and impassive most of the time, this was Yamaguchi. This was the only person the team had ever seen Tsukishima willingly spend time with.

Noya and Hinata were still unconscious, but the rest of them were glancing nervously between themselves. More and more seconds passed, and still no one said anything, until a sigh came from Daichi. Evidently, this would fall to him. If no one else could do this, he would do it as captain.

That is until a different voice spoke up.

“I killed Yamaguchi’s counselor because he was touching him.”

All heads turned to Kageyama, who was sitting against one of the walls with his knees up and head bent.

His voice was low, and his eyes obscured by his dark hair, but he continued clearly enough, “He blackmailed him into agreeing to do bad stuff so that we wouldn’t get hurt, so I went to his office and killed him. Now we’re here.”

The room felt stuffy after Kageyama had said the words, like releasing them had filled the air with a stifling heaviness.

Then everyone’s eyes nervously glanced at Tsukishima, waiting for his reaction. Waiting for the anger.

The boy stood up. He walked right past Kageyama to where Daichi and Suga were. Then he very carefully picked up Yamaguchi and moved to the corner furthest away from everyone else.

As Tsukishima sat down, he pulled Yamaguchi close and turned his back to the rest of them, blocking them all out. 

And then he stayed completely still.

No one could see his face, but if they could, they would see his eyes squeezed shut painfully tight as he tried to block everything out. 

He tried to pretend that the rest of the team wasn’t there. That it was just him and Yamaguchi, and that nothing bad could ever reach them.

He tried to pretend that they were eight again. They were making forts in his room, and Yamaguchi was squished against Kei as the blonde tried to adjust one of the blankets. 

_The door to Kei’s room opened and the light switch was flipped on, flooding the room with light. Yamaguchi and Kei yelled in unison to turn it back off. Akiteru giggled and did as he was told, the room refilling with stars from Kei’s star nightlight._

_“Okay, okay, sorry,” his brother laughed, “I just wanna know if you want some hot chocolate?”_

_The two boys thought about it for a second, but ultimately they had to stick to the unyielding laws that they had made up five minutes ago._

_“No one is allowed in here except me and Yamaguchi.”_

_“Oh really?” Akiteru laughed._

_“Yep!” Yamaguchi squeaked from his side._

_They heard Akiteru sigh dramatically, “Okay...I guess I’ll just be all by myself then…” he feigned sadness._

_Yamaguchi’s face took on a worried expression, “U-unless you really want to Akiteru-kun!”_

_Kei rolled his eyes, “Yamaguchi don’t fall for that, he’s just being annoying on purpose.”_

_But Yamaguchi still looked sad at the prospect that Akiteru might feel left out, so Kei acquiesced with a sigh._

_Yet Akiteru only knelt in front of their fort and ruffled their hair fondly, “It’s alright, Tadashi-kun. How did you get to be so sweet? Hopefully Kei will learn a thing or two from you.”_

_Kei pushed his brother half-heartedly out of the fort and stuck his tongue out at him, which was returned playfully._

_He turned back around to find Yamaguchi putting Kei’s dinosaurs right outside their fort to guard them._

_“There, Tsukki!” the freckled boy beamed with crooked teeth and dancing freckles._

_“They’ll protect us!”_

Kei held Yamaguchi as close as he could without hurting him, and kept his eyes squeezed shut. For just a moment, he could pretend Kei’s dinosaurs were still enough to protect them.

~

They had a new routine. And it was much worse.

They didn’t have beds, so they slept on the cold, hard, ground. Before, they had slept with each other in a pile for comfort, now it was out of necessity. They’d freeze to death otherwise.

They also didn’t have bathrooms, so they had scheduled bathroom breaks, and they were only allowed showers every three days.

Foodwise, they were no longer allowed to go to the cafeteria, so they had their meals brought to the room, and it was much less than it had been. It was enough to keep them strong enough for lessons, but nothing extra, and certainly nothing good tasting.

As for lessons and sessions, they still went to the solo sessions, but they had changed dramatically. The teachers were no longer patient with them, and the counselors no longer asked them subtle questions. Although it was worse for some more than others. 

Yamaguchi was a good example of that. 

His first session had been only hours after they were dumped in their new room. They didn’t even give him a chance to catch his breath. 

But it wasn’t Dr. Hishino who gave him his session. It would never be Dr. Hishino again. Before he had even been knocked unconscious, some workers had found where he ran away to and told him what Kageyama had done. He was given about fifteen seconds to process it before they knocked him out.

He still hadn’t processed it, but here he was in a sterile office with an old severe looking woman who wouldn’t make eye contact with him.

“I see you’ve had six injections already, yet you’re not showing any progress. That doesn’t bode well for you,” the older counselor muttered as she read what he presumed was his file.

Yamaguchi’s eyebrows pinched in worry, mouth parted slightly as it often was. He was too afraid to ask what she meant.

“Let’s see...no remarkable grades, not a starter on your team, no other extracurricular activities. What exactly do you do with all that free time?”

The counselor finally met his eyes, and in response he quickly looked down at his lap.

“Um...I practice a lot. I practice my serving. I’m a pinch server.”

She sighed unimpressed and went back to the file, saying, “It says here you're closest with Tsukishima Kei, and he’s a starter isn’t he?”

Yamaguchi chose not to answer. He didn’t want to talk about Tsukki at all with this person.

Apparently she had a different feeling on the matter, as she interrogated, “He’s a starter, is that correct? And he is quite accomplished in school? You will answer me when I ask a question.”

Yamaguchi swallowed, but begrudgingly answered, “Yes. Tsukki is a good player and student.”

“Then why is he friends with you?” she quickly retorted, “It’s nothing personal, I don’t even know you after all, but it’s my job to assess you and so far what I see is unremarkable. I see that you were bullied as well, which is a telling sign of someone who is destined to die without leaving a mark.”

Yamaguchi winced. This person was cruel. He has had some pretty horrible things said to him before, he was bullied after all, but nothing like this. 

All of a sudden, he found himself missing Dr. Hishino. Not the bad things…but before that. Even if it was all a lie, he had told Yamaguchi that he believed in him. That he was proud of him. And Yamaguchi loved talking about Tsukki and his other friends with him. It felt disgusting to be missing that. To be missing the person who had betrayed him so hideously.

He wanted to claw his skin off.

But the questions kept coming, and there was nowhere for Yamaguchi to go. So instead he squeezed his eyes shut painfully tight and pretended he was eight years old with Tsukki again.

~

“Excuse me, Dr. Akiya. We have the results from Yamaguchi Tadashi's latest blood test. There’s no change in his levels.”

Dr. Akiya took the chart from the woman’s hands and read the results. 

He sighed.

“These were taken 24 hours after injection, correct?”

The staff member nodded.

“And stress levels were raised consistently?”

She nodded again.

“Very well, then. I had rather hoped Yamaguchi Tadashi could produce a miracle, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I suppose Hishino was simply too desperate to prove something, whatever that may be.”

_**...Two Days After Karasuno’s Arrival** _

_“Akiya, please! Please listen to me, I know that I’m correct in this. We should keep that boy, he could be the answer we’ve been waiting for!”_

_Hishino desperately pleaded his case, following the other into the lab area._

_Akiya didn’t look up from the tools he was putting away, answering, “Hishino, he would be a waste of our time and resources. There is no reason to keep a subject who has no ability.”_

_“Yes there is!” Hishino exclaimed, rounding the table Akiya stood behind, “Listen. We could test the new injection on him. I know it’s only been tested on plants so far, but I think this could be at the very least informative.”_

_Akiya furrowed his eyebrows, “That formula hasn’t even entered animal testing, it would be a complete waste to use it on a human with no abilities. So far we have only achieved plant matter affecting other plant matter, it’s just not possible at this stage.”_

_“That’s not true! It’s living matter affecting living matter. We’ll have to make a few changes, of course, but I don’t see how this is a waste at all. It would be a_ waste _to kill the boy. This is using our resources efficiently. We have a human born with no ability. That’s extremely rare. We won’t get a chance like this again.”_

_Akiya considered his words, “And you’re sure this has nothing to do with wanting to gain your own ability back?”_

_Hishino stood straight, and stayed silent for a few moments._

_Then, he responded slowly, “I have been working on this formula since the day I lost my ability. I started with plants, because it’s the easiest to manipulate and there is plenty of testing material. But also because that was my ability._

_“Of course I am doing this partially because I want my ability back. But I’m also doing it because I want what you want. I want to create something that can create and alter someone’s ability, and I wholeheartedly believe that boy is the key to doing so. He is special. I can tell.”_

_Akiya tapped the needle he was cleaning against the sanitary paper. Then he looked up._

_“Okay. I’ll allow you to give him his sessions, as long as he shows progress.”_

…..

Akiya stared down at the file in his hand.

He really had wanted it to work out. The conviction in Hishino’s voice convinced him it might be worth a try. And they had kept the boy with freckles around for so long at this point, despite many of his subordinates believing it would only cause trouble.

But Hishino wasn’t around anymore. And there was no reason to keep a subject with no results.

“Very well,” he repeated, “We’ll proceed with the termination, however let’s run some of our less secure tests and methods on him first. No sense in not using him for the few days he has left.”

~

The room was cramped, since there were nine people squished into it, but they weren’t going to complain since it brought just a little extra warmth. 

However, it also meant absolutely no privacy.

In the middle of the room Tanaka was showing Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Kageyama how to play the quick hand slapping game. They often played those kinds of hand games now since they had absolutely nothing in the room to entertain themselves with. 

Asahi watched them in amusement while Noya hung off his back, yelling loudly when someone succeeded in the game.

Near them was Suga and Daichi who were watching attentively but also talking amongst themselves.

Tsukishima had been sitting next to Yamaguchi, silently watching him, but he had something to do and this was the best chance he would get. So he silently got up and made his way towards Daichi and Suga.

“Daichi-san...can I speak with you please. It’s urgent.”

Daichi and Suga both eyed him with concern before exchanging glances.

The tall boy stood completely still, but as they still didn’t answer, he added, “Please. It’s private.”

At that Suga nudged Daichi and stood up, pleasantly replying, “No problem Tsukishima, go ahead. I’ll show those ruffians how to really play the hand slapping game.”

Suga gave him a friendly clap on his shoulder before moving to the group in the middle.

Finally, Daichi stood and gave Tsukishima a smile, moving them a little further away before quietly asking, “What is it, Tsukishima? Is something wrong?”

The first year looked past Daichi’s shoulder at the grey wall before replying, “Yes. I didn’t want to tell Suga just yet, because he won’t react well. But we have to do something as soon as possible.”

Daichi leveled him with an anxious look.

“I only figured it out right before we were put in here,” Tsukishima met Daichi’s eyes with an imploring glint, “But they’re planning to kill Yamaguchi in seven days.”

A look of horror flashed over Daichi’s face, and the older teen ran a hand down his face to compose himself.

“Wait...wh- Are you sure? You know that they’re planning on killing him?” Daichi asked in distress.

The blonde nodded with an extremely serious expression, “I’m sure. I saw his file. In seven days they’re planning on giving him a lethal injection, because he isn’t showing progress.”

The older teen once again ran a hand down his face and turned around for a second, trying to think over his rapidly beating heart. They didn’t have a way out yet. They didn’t even really have any ideas for a way out yet. 

But it didn’t matter. He will do anything to protect Yamaguchi. He was very protective of the first years, especially Yamaguchi, and especially after learning what had happened to him. He reminded him quite a bit of Suga in some ways, and Suga also cared about the freckled boy very deeply. 

He will _never_ let them kill Yamaguchi. Or any of them for that matter.

“Okay. Okay, okay, fine. Then there’s only one thing we can do. We have six days to come up with an escape plan.”

~

The Nekoma team had briefly been locked up after Kuroo’s little outburst, but they were let out by the next morning and other than that things had mostly gone back to normal. 

They tried not to talk about what happened too much, but it was always in the back of their minds. Of course, Kuroo had told Yaku everything in order to keep their team safer, but many of the others still didn't know. It didn’t seem right to worry their juniors, and it would just be too confusing and scary for someone like Lev.

Kuroo did make it a point to tell Akaashi though when they saw each other at lunch the next day. He wanted to make sure they all stayed as vigilant as possible now that they knew what could potentially happen. But he left it to Akaashi to decide if he wanted to tell Bokuto and the rest of their team.

Still, things seemed normal. They went to sessions like usual, and got their meals at the cafeteria like normal. They were even allowed back to the recreational room not three days after the incident.

They were there now, playing friendly games and keeping an eye on each other. Kuroo had a new habit of not letting Kenma more than ten feet away from him, much to the latter’s annoyance. But the setter couldn’t really blame him after what happened.

Kuroo watched as Lev and Inuoka bounced a volleyball between the two of them from across the building. Apparently they turned it into a game of hot potato, and they were now wildly trying to hit the ball back to the other as quickly as possible.

The captain gave a small smile as the pair ran all over the place, laughing loudly while they tried to return the ball. However, after a slightly too forceful hit by Inuoka, Lev was running blindly towards the ball, all flailing limbs and clumsiness, before accidentally running into one of the staff members and knocking both of them over.

The worker let out a groan before pulling himself up with no small amount of anger, leaving Lev on the ground.

“You little-” the worker grabbed Lev by the front of his shirt and shook him, “You goddamn idiot! I’m tired of watching your sorry ass, don’t you have any brains at all!”

Kuroo shot out of his seat with wide eyes and started running towards the pair, seeing that Yaku was already doing the same.

“I-I’m sorry,” the tall first year uttered slightly confused.

“Why do we have to take in the students that are dumb as hell,” the man addressed his coworker, “Just get rid of them, damn. Useless pieces of shit.”

Lev flinched at the words as the man shook him again.

He was confused. Why was this man swearing at him? What did he do?

The worker still looked like he wanted to hit him, but apparently his coworker had calmed him down slightly, because with one last shake he finally released Lev.

The tall boy breathed out a sigh and saw out of the corner of his eye that Kuroo and Yaku had almost reached him. They looked upset, but seeing that Lev was released they calmed down a bit.

However, just as Lev was about to get up, the worker sneered at him and gave Lev one last harsh kick to his side, knocking him back down.

Yaku growled and moved to charge the worker, only barely being held back by Kuroo and a few other team members.

“You piece of shit!” the enraged third year shouted, “What the fuck is wrong with you?! What did he do to you? What did he do wrong, huh?! I’m gonna kill you, you asshole!”

Kuroo held Yaku back as well as possible, well aware of just how angry the libero could get when anyone in their team was hurt, especially their first years and even more so if it’s Lev, but he was tempted not to hold him back. He wanted to see that worker get a well deserved beat down just as much as Yaku.

It seemed that the worker wasn’t going to back down though, because he retorted just as angrily, “Oh yeah?! What are you gonna do, huh? You think you’re special ‘cause you have these new abilities? You’re all just a bunch of lab rats! You’re disposable! You’ll be used up and spit out just like the rest of us!”

Kuroo paused at his words, still holding Yaku back as the latter shouted meaningless angry words back.

“God, you’re all so fucking clueless!” the worker continued, sounding oddly desperate, “You’re just gonna end up like that dumbass team with the freckled kid. Why are we pretending?”

His coworker had finally got a handle on him and started leading him out of the room.

As he was led out, the worker put a hand to his forehead and started muttering to himself, “What’s the point of all this...you’re better off just dying now. Why are we still doing this…”

He was finally led out of the room.

Kuroo absentmindedly released Yaku and watched the shorter third year run towards Lev.

“Oi,” Yaku kneeled next to the first year and quickly looked him over, “You okay? Did he hurt you?”

Lev silently shook his head, still shocked by the exchange.

Kuroo, on the other hand, was thinking about the worker’s words. Why did he bring up Karasuno? 

Now that he thought about it...he hasn’t heard from Karasuno in awhile. It hadn’t been that long, but still. They usually find ways to communicate.

He turned towards where Kenma was standing a few feet behind him and knew he was wondering the same thing from the look on his face.

What happened to Karasuno?

~

The team looked up as the door creaked open and a pale, thin looking Noya was thrown in unceremoniously.

It didn’t surprise them much anymore. They were regularly taken out one by one to do this or that and thrown back in like animals.

Noya had been taken out this time to receive yet another injection, which would explain why he was so pale and sick looking. Ever since they were thrown in here, it seemed that their injections were given every day or sometimes more now. At first they didn’t notice a difference, but it was becoming clear that they were getting weaker and weaker.

Asahi dragged himself up as best as he could and gently pulled Noya up. He half carried the tiny libero to the corner and barely managed to lean the smaller boy up against himself before passing out again, holding the already sleeping Noya close to him.

It broke Suga’s heart to watch, but it was becoming normal to see these pitiful displays. They were all tired and weak and hungry, and it was getting harder everyday.

Hinata was curled up against Kageyama’s side, turning the setters hands over as he examined his fingers. It was probably the most energy he could muster at the moment.

Tsukishima hadn’t touched his food once again. He always claimed that the injections took away his appetite, but Suga saw the way he would sneak it onto Yamaguchi’s plate, who was also having appetite issues.

Looking over at the freckled boy, Suga saw he was fast asleep with his head pillowed on Tsukishima’s lap. He never would have imagined the apathetic first year would let Yamaguchi sleep on him, but everything has changed. They were just trying to survive now.

Tsukishima ran his hands through Yamaguchi’s greasy and knotted hair. One thing he noticed was that they didn’t let Yamaguchi shower as often as the rest of them. His skin was dirty and his hair perpetually oily, but it didn’t stop Tsukishima from holding him close and combing his hair as well as he could.

They were trying to break Yamaguchi down even faster than the rest of them. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was because they thought it would make the injection work. Maybe it was because they were going to kill him in a few days. Maybe they were just bullies.

Either way, it meant that Yamaguchi was given less food, less showers, and more sessions. And Tsukishima was forced to watch him fade away.

Maybe that’s why during one of his own sessions, he asked to speak with Dr. Akiya. He told his counselor he had a proposition to make, and apparently his voice held enough weight that they listened.

“I have a proposition,” Tsukishima spoke as soon as he entered Dr. Akiya’s office.

The doctor gave him an amused look and gestured for him to continue before linking his hands together.

“I know you’re planning on killing Yamaguchi in a few days.”

It was barely noticeable, but the doctor’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise.

“If you leave him alone, if you let him live and give him enough food and water and showers, I’ll help you. I know you've been trying to get me to work for you or whatever delusional plan you had, and I'm willing to do that. I'll work with your counselors, I'll assist in planning, I'll even help you make whatever you poke us with every week. All you have to do is leave Yamaguchi alone. It's probably an overly generous offer, but I'm not too concerned about debt." 

A few moments passed as Akiya simply watched him.

Then a small smile spread across Akiya’s face and he unlinked his hands as he leaned back in his seat. Standing up, Akiya stood in front of his desk and gave Tsukishima a smile that was probably meant to be pacifying but only looked condescending to Tsukishima.

“Thank you for your _generous_ offer,” the doctor began, “But I'm afraid it's essentially worthless. Why would we need you now, when we're no longer under any false pretenses? I'm afraid you overvalue yourself Tsukishima Kei.”

Honestly, Tsukishima loved playing mind games with this guy. He could make a hobby out of it. 

The doctor walked across the room and thumbed through some files before continuing, “Sure, we could've used you in the beginning when we needed insight into your team and ways to improve on building trust, but why do that when we can just openly experiment now? Your friend is no longer our priority, and there are other ways to get results. So why shouldn’t we open him up. See what really makes him tick?”

“You would waste an experiment like that?” Tsukishima quickly responded, “No wonder you aren’t getting the results you want. You just get rid of anything that doesn’t provide an immediate reaction.”

The doctor gave a mirthless laugh before responding, “Do you think so? I’m not sure about that. You think it’s that simple to not only give someone an ability, but to alter the ability of others? Despite what you might think this isn’t all some petty grudge against your little friend.”

“I’m sure. Yet, do you really think that increased injections of a worthless formula paired with distressing factors will get you what you want? How many people have you gone through without getting results with this formula? It’s probably been thousands.”

“No,” Akiya responded simply, “In fact, your friend is the first. But in the end, he’ll be helping thousands. He isn’t the only one without an ability. Many have lost their abilities due to...circumstances. Many here have lost their abilities for our cause, willingly or not. Your friend is just one step closer to helping us give them back their abilities.”

Suddenly, the doctor turned back to him with an affixed smile, “Don't you worry your little head, we'll get the results we're looking for soon enough, and then we'll be able to move on. But thank you very much for letting me know that you were able to get into our system. I’ll have that fixed right away." 

Tsukishima’s face morphed into a look of defeat, which caused Akiya to smile wider.

Without permission, Tsukishima headed towards the door and left with one last exaggerated look of despair.

However, as soon as he closed the door behind him, the despair slipped from his face and was replaced by his usual impassive expression.

As he was escorted back to the room, a tiny smirk came over his face.

 _And thank you for letting me know exactly what it is I need to do to get us out of here,_ he thought.

You see, there was something Tsukishima had noticed about Hishino from day one. He had a scar on the back of his neck, where they got their injections.

He didn’t think much about it at first, but then he noticed that many of the workers here had identical scars on the back of their necks. 

Thanks to Akiya, he now knows that they didn’t just lose their abilities. Their abilities were _taken_ by Akiya, most likely for profit. And they didn’t even realize it. 

Most of the staff here was under the impression that they tragically lost their abilities and will get them back once Akiya perfects this formula. 

Tsukishima doesn’t imagine they’ll be happy once they learn the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are the best I love you! <3


	9. Finale: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! <3 We have finally reached the finale, and originally I had planned to make the ending one big chapter. But it ended up being _really_ long, so I had to split it up! On the bright side though, that means the next chapter will be out very soon!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“Yamaguchi-kun? Do you want some of my food?”

Tsukishima looked over at Hinata as the smaller boy crawled over to Yamaguchi and offered him some of his food. He was sitting on his feet like a five year old and holding out some stale bread with big eyes, but it managed to make Yamaguchi smile softly.

The freckled boy looked absolutely exhausted. He was slumped against the wall and the dark circles under his eyes only served to make him look more gaunt. Yamaguchi had always been a skinny kid, but now he just looked like he was wasting away. 

Yamaguchi lifted a weak arm up slowly and ran it gently through Hinata’s soft fiery hair, looking at him with a soft expression.

“Thank you, Hinata, but I’m okay,” he replied softly.

Hinata didn’t look happy with that answer, and it didn’t seem like he was going to accept it either. He just held the bread out closer to Yamaguchi, and made a pout that said he wouldn’t take no as an answer.

Yamaguchi sighed before taking the bread and breaking it in half, remarking, “There. We can split it, okay?”

Hinata still didn’t look thrilled, but he accepted it nonetheless. Grabbing his half, the orange haired boy scooched over until he was curled up into Yamaguchi’s side and they silently ate together. 

Suga was watching the pair with a smile, but Tsukishima saw the pain behind that smile. The pain at seeing his two underclassmen having to split food and cuddling just so they knew that the other was still there.

Tsukishima looked away towards his feet.

There was only two days left until Yamaguchi’s scheduled ‘termination,’ and Tsukishima had had enough.

He didn’t want to look at Yamaguchi’s dull eyes or ashy skin anymore, so different from their usual warmth. Hell, he didn’t want to look at any of his teammates suffering anymore. He was sick of watching Asahi flinch every time the door opened, or how Noya no longer had the energy to pester the others.

And honestly, Tsukishima was beginning to lose it himself.

Suddenly, he heard the door click and the creaking of it opening fully. A man in white clothing, one of the workers, was standing there. They came in all the time, and Tsukishima never failed to give them a chilling look from over the top of his glasses.

Yet, as he heard the man call Yamaguchi’s name yet again, for testing or practice or whatever the fuck they want, something snapped in him, and he had an odd thought.

Kei wasn’t the possessive type, or the jealous type. He wasn’t really any type at all. He didn’t exactly have a lot of friends, which he was more than okay with, and he had never dated before, which he didn’t really care about. All he ever had was Yamaguchi.

But at some point, he doesn’t know when or how...but at some point, Yamaguchi became irrevocably _his_.

He was the one who grew up with Yamaguchi. He was the one who used to put on the mute button when Yamaguchi got too scared at certain parts in _Jurassic Park_. He was the one who used to hide with Yamaguchi in Akiteru’s closet so that they could jump out and scare him when he got home from school. He was the one who had once spent hours picking out knee pads for Yamaguchi so his bony little knees wouldn’t get scraped anymore.

And Yamaguchi was the only one in the world that Kei would actually try for.

So knowing all that, Kei didn’t find it all that odd that when the man walked over to grab Yamaguchi by the arm to take him for testing, he had reached his breaking point.

The blonde stood up with composure and took two strides over to the man. As soon as the man turned to look at him, he threw a punch with every last bit of strength he had left.

The man stumbled until his back hit the wall, grabbing his mouth and looking at the blood on his hand in shock.

“You son of a-” before ending his own sentence, the worker grabbed Tsukishima’s shirt and delivered a swift punch to his cheek.

It hurt. It broke his glasses, knocking them off, and it felt like a piece of the lens cut him above the eye. But that didn’t stop him from returning with a kick to the worker’s side.

The room was in shock, but they were now focused on keeping Tsukishima out of harm, so Asahi grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. At the same time, Tanaka and Daichi stood in front of the worker in case he tried to take another swing.

It looked like he wanted to, but a few more workers were already entering the room and he was left there panting with blood running down his enraged face.

“That piece of shit hit me,” he growled to one of his coworkers, “Take his ass to isolation, before I teach him a lesson.”

Tsukishima glared at the man as best he could without being able to see him very well, but allowed himself to be manhandled by the other workers without a fight.

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi cried from the side of the room, face twisted in despair, “No! Please let him stay! Please!”

It hurt to see Yamaguchi cry like that, but Tsukishima needed to do this.

He gave Yamaguchi a long look before he was being pulled aggressively out of the room, followed by the sounds of his teammates protesting.

Tsukishima didn’t want to go either, but this was the last chance he had to save Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima now sat quietly on the metal bench in the isolation room. It probably hadn’t been that long since he was put in here, maybe a few hours, but the doors were already opening to allow someone entrance.

A woman came in with some water and set it on the ground before turning to walk out. Yet, Tsukishima saw the scar on the back of her neck, one that the man who he punched didn’t have, and thought that this was his chance.

Before she could go, Tsukishima called out, “Wait, I have a question.”

Carefully, she turned to him and eyed him with suspicion, “What is it?”

“It’s about something I realized when I was talking with Dr. Akiya,” Tsukishima replied, trying to come off as innocent as possible, “I’m not quite sure what he was talking about, but he said that he’s had to take the abilities of the people here in order to make something? Do you know what he’s talking about?”

The woman turned to him fully, “...what?”

“It was odd,” Tsukishima continued, “We were talking about how he’s trying to give Yamaguchi, the boy with the freckles, an ability, and he told me that he’s been taking the abilities of the people here for something, but I don’t know what.”

The woman furrowed her eyebrows and her lips parted slightly, looking surprised but like she was trying to hide it.

Then Tsukishima looked up at her with big eyes, knowing that without his glasses he did tend to look younger, and asked “Do you think he’s going to take our abilities as well? I really don’t want to lose my ability.”

With a labored swallow, the woman blinked rapidly and turned around sharply, saying, “Calm down, kid. You’ll be fine. Just sit there and be quiet, and you’ll be out of isolation soon enough.”

She quickly left, closing the door solidly, but Tsukishima saw the flicker of doubt.

That’s all he needed, he just had to hope Yamaguchi really did have two days left.

~

A day passed, and Yamaguchi was getting really worried.

Tsukki was still in isolation, and with every minute that passed Yamaguchi was getting more nervous, hoping that it was Tsukki who was at the door every time it opened.

But it wasn’t. In fact, this time it was none other than Akiya, looking as nonplussed as ever.

“Good afternoon. How are you all doing?” he asked as if nothing had changed.

No one answered him. Daichi even gave him a look that asked whether he was joking.

“I’m here to collect Yamaguchi Tadashi. This is going to be his last training session. Then tomorrow he’ll have a special session,” he said nonchalantly.

Yamaguchi noticed Daichi flinch next to him, but the freckled boy turned his attention to Akiya.

“This is my last training session?” he asked quietly, looking up at the doctor in confusion.

“Yes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we will be able to give you an ability, so we decided to stop trying.”

Yamaguchi processed his words, “But...what will I do then? I can try even harder? I think that I’m starting to feel something-”

“The truth is you’ll never have an ability. This formula never worked before, and it’s not going to work now. But don’t you worry. We’ll find something for you to do.”

Yamaguchi shut his mouth at Dr. Akiya’s words. He pulled at the end of his very ragged shirt and swallowed dryly.

“Well then,” Akiya added pleasantly, “Let’s go, shall we?”

They took him to a room with metal walls except for one wall that held a window.

They tied him up. It was a chair with metal shackles, which wasn’t unfamiliar in this place, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

A nurse locked the final shackle and met his eyes. Yamaguchi looked back, pleading for nothing in particular, but the man looked away quickly and left the room.

He left the room and moved to the tiny observation room with windows so that they could observe Yamaguchi. He noticed that Akiya had left already and there were only two of them in the room.

“Is he ready?” the other worker asked.

“Yes,” the nurse responded.

Then a new man entered the room Yamaguchi was in, and the nurse paused when he evidently recognized the person.

“Wait... _that_ guy? They’re seriously using him? That seems a little...extreme. You know he’s an actual sadist.”

“Well, the kid’s only got two days left to live anyway. It’ll all be over for him soon enough.”

Looking away, the nurse turned his mind to the clipboard in front him despite not having anything to write.

Yamaguchi watched as the man entered the room, he could see the workers outside the window talking, but he couldn’t hear them. Even so, as the man entered, he felt goosebumps on his skin.

Without saying a word, the man took out some kind of mask.

Yamaguchi was terrified at this point. This isn’t how training sessions usually went. They usually talked to him in the very least.

“H-hello? What am I doing today?” Yamaguchi finally prompted, wanting some semblance of normalcy.

But the man responded with a smirk that left Yamaguchi feeling sick.

“I’m going to deprive you of oxygen, before giving it back to you. Then, I’m going to do it again. And again. And again. And if you still don’t produce some kind of result, then we’ll move on to other approaches.”

“What?” Yamaguchi tried to say, but it came out so hoarse it just sounded like a rasp. He hasn’t had much water lately.

“Let’s begin,” the other responded without pause, before strapping the mask over Yamaguchi’s face.

At first, Yamaguchi didn’t feel any difference, but then his chest started constricting. And he tried to take in a breath, but there was no air, and he started heaving. And as he gasped for breath, he could see the glint in the other man’s eyes. 

It was so horrifying that by the time the black spots started dotting his vision, he was grateful.

But he didn’t pass out. The man pressed a button and all the air came back, leaving Yamaguchi gasping in his seat.

He didn’t even wait thirty seconds before doing it again.

It went like that for a while. Until Yamaguchi felt so lightheaded he couldn’t keep his head upright. But then the talking started.

“They’re going to kill you, you know?”

Yamaguchi flopped his head over as best as he could to look at the man.

“They’re going to kill you and that’s why they’re letting me do whatever I have to in order to get results. If you want to live, I suggest you try really hard to do something kid.”

He pressed the button again.

When Yamaguchi could breathe again, the other was already talking.

“-maybe you don’t want to live, huh? Is that what this is? Well, too bad that won’t stop me.”

He pressed the button again.

“You wanna know something? I don’t have an ability either. It was taken from me. Do you think that’s why I like doing stuff like this? It gives me some kind of power, that’s what you’re thinking, right?”

He pressed the button again.

“But you know what, I don’t think that’s it. I already liked this kind of stuff before I lost my ability. At least you were born without an ability. Imagine going from having something so special to being worthless? But you were just born that way.”

Yamaguchi’s head was slumped over. He was barely staying conscious. Honestly, he was barely registering the man’s words anymore, but suddenly the man stopped talking.

It was silent for a few moments, as Yamaguchi tried to get his breath back. He stayed motionless in the silence, head slumped and eyes droopy. Then, the man took a few steps toward him, and looked straight into his eyes.

“After you die,” he grabbed Yamaguchi’s chin between two rough fingers, “Guess what I’m going to do?”

Yamaguchi looked back into his eyes.

“I’m going to visit your friends. And they’ll beg me to stop, but I won’t. Each one of them will go through torture, and I want you to know that it will be all your fault. Because you weren’t strong enough to save them.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened slightly. He felt the slightest bit of strength return to him, and a tingling sensation throughout his body.

“That little orange haired kid looks like he’ll break easy. I saw how quickly he hit the ground after he was shot. How did that feel, seeing him slumped on the ground lifeless right in front of your eyes?”

He felt himself subconsciously struggle with the shackles around him. There was an anger in him that he hadn’t ever felt before. A desperation.

He didn’t want Hinata’s name coming out of this man’s mouth. He didn’t even want him to think about his friend. For the first time in his life, he thought...that he wanted to hurt this person.

“Did that strike a nerve?” the man said gleefully, “He is a little ball of sunshine isn’t he...it’d be fun to watch that light go out.”

Yamaguchi lunged in his seat. He didn’t get anywhere, of course, but it made the man smirk.

“Hm. Or maybe, the other one. The dark haired kid who's always frowning. Oh, but wait, he hates you doesn’t he? Didn’t he attack you?” he laughed sharply.

“That’s right! He attacked you for not wanting to go get felt up by good old Hishino, right?! Wow, maybe you wouldn’t mind if I tortured him a little.”

Yamaguchi struggled in the chair, glaring at the man with everything he had. He knew well enough how much Kageyama regretted that day. He would watch when the other boy would wake up suddenly from a nightmare, and their eyes would meet across the dark room, as Yamaguchi was already awake from his own nightmares. 

In those moments, they didn’t have to say anything, they would just sit in the dark together, silently offering each other support.

“No. You wouldn’t want that, I suppose,” the man spoke again, “You don’t have it in you to wish another person harm. But maybe, if I were to pay _Tsukki_ a visit, you would?”

Yamaguchi froze.

“He looks unbreakable, sure, but I wonder if after a few sessions, he would start crying like a baby. Could you imagine that? Could you imagine how shocking it would be to see such an untouchable guy begging and crying for me to stop? I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

It was odd. 

Yamaguchi felt...calm. A sort of serenity fell over him, like everything around him was blurring, and yet his head was completely clear. It felt more clear than it had his entire life.

He met the man’s dead eyes with his own clear, bright ones. 

For a minute, the man looked perplexed, but then he said, “After you die...he’ll be the first one I visit. And I want you to die with his broken body in your mind and know that it was because you weren’t strong enough.”

.....

A moment passed.

Yamaguchi slowly blinked.

And then…he felt alive.

In less than one second, the metal shackles broke open along with his already deactivated collar and the man was thrown across the room. He hit the wall so hard that his neck snapped upon impact, and he lied motionless on the ground.

Yamaguchi vaguely registered the shouting from outside the room.

“Holy shit!” one of the workers yelled from the observation room, “It...it worked! Oh my god it worked! He actually gained an ability! I can’t believe-! Wait a minute…”

The worker turned to the staff member next to him.

“...that’s not the ability we were trying to give him.”

An ominous buzzing filled the observation room the two workers were in, steadily getting louder. 

The worker followed the noise with his eyes as it ran throughout the control system in front of him, until he looked up to see Yamaguchi watching them.

Chills ran down their spines as the boy just stood there and watched them unblinkingly. Like something out of a horror movie.

His face was sweet and boyish, splattered with freckles. But his expression was...curious. Like something examining its prey before it killed it.

The buzzing got louder until suddenly the control panel burst and the power in the room went out. 

A scream filled the room as the panel burst, but when they recovered, the room was dark and eerily quiet.

Once they looked up, they could see Yamaguchi’s silhouette in the other room.

He was completely still.

Then suddenly he was gone.

“Shit!” one of the workers screamed involuntarily before slapping a hand over his mouth.

“What the...god damnit what is going on! Did he have an ability the entire time?!” the other man shouted and began running to get to the hallway.

But then, suddenly, he stopped.

Someone else was in his head now.

Slowly, not of his own will, he walked over to a compartment and opened it, taking out one of the guns.

“What are you doing?” the other worker asked.

Without responding, the man walked up to the other and put the gun to their head.

“What the hell-”

He pulled the trigger. 

The other man slumped over lifeless as the worker put down the gun and turned around to where Yamaguchi had teleported into the room.

Yamaguchi instructed the man to take off his collar, and he did so without question before grabbing a key card and handing it to Yamaguchi. Afterwards, he silently sat down in one of the chairs.

“Good,” Yamaguchi remarked with his soft, boyish voice, “Now sit there and hold your breath until you pass out...and then do it again. And again. And again. Until you don’t wake up.”

The worker began to hold his breath, and Yamaguchi left the room.

~

He wasn’t seen as he walked the corridors.

He stayed completely invisible all the way from the observation room to where he knew they were holding Tsukki, and when he reached the outside of his cell, it was easy to get the guards to go take a walk.

When he opened the cell using the key card he attained, his eyes immediately landed on the blonde who was sitting pushed all the way in the corner on a metal bench.

Yamaguchi watched as Tsukishima looked up to see who entered, but he wasn’t wearing his glasses. They were probably still back in the room after the guard punched him.

In the back of his mind, he vaguely registered the thought that Tsukki looked very cute squinting at him as he tried to see who he was, but it was quickly pushed to the back when he saw the deep cut above the other’s eye and the dried blood on his face.

With quick steps he went to Tsukishima’s eyes and examined the cut.

“Who- Yamaguchi? What are you doing here?! How did you get in here?!” Tsukishima exclaimed as he approached him.

But Yamaguchi didn’t respond. He simply directed the blonde to turn his face this way and that, and Tsukishima let himself be directed, never taking his eyes off of Yamaguchi’s expressionless face. 

Then the freckled boy put a hand to the side of his face and closed his eyes.

Tsukishima remained completely still. With Yamaguchi this close, he could actually see him without his glasses, so he examined the freckles across Yamaguchi’s nose as the other closed his eyes. But then he felt a tingling sensation.

It only lasted a few seconds, and when Yamaguchi pulled away, he noticed the cut above his eye was no longer stinging.

Yamaguchi healed him.

He ran a hand over the healed skin before looking back at Yamaguchi.

“What...did you just heal me?”

The freckled boy didn’t respond, but his face twisted in discomfort before he blinked a few times and seemed to come back to himself.

“Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi are you alright? Are you hurt?”

When Yamaguchi looked up at him again, it was with a distressed expression.

“T-tsukki? What have I done?”

Tsukishima looked at Yamaguchi’s face and felt the relief at seeing him again take his breath away. All the nights he couldn’t sleep because he kept seeing visions of Yamaguchi cold and lifeless in front of him because he was unable to save him. The fear of not knowing whether Yamaguchi was already dead or not while he was in isolation. It all hit him at once and he couldn’t stop the urge to feel that Yamaguchi was truly there.

He pulled Yamaguchi into a hug and squeezed his eyes shut, just taking a moment to feel Yamaguchi’s warmth.

“I didn’t know whether they killed you or not,” he murmured into the freckled boy’s neck.

Yamaguchi tightened his arms around the other, allowing himself to let a few tears fall down his face. They spent a few moments like that, breathing in each other’s presence, until Tsukishima couldn’t stop his curiosity from coming back and pulled back.

“How are you here? How did you get out?”

The other boy looked down for a few moments, mulling over his thoughts.

“I...I don’t know. I don’t know how, but I used Daichi’s ability. And then, I used Noya’s. And Hinata’s. And more...Tsukki I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”

Tsukishima squeezed the hand he was still holding, and replied, “Calm down, it’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. Let’s just focus on getting out of he-”

Tsukishima was cut off by a distant siren going off, causing him to look around for the source.

“Shit,” the taller boy swore in surprise, “Did they figure out you escaped?” 

Yamaguchi looked around nervously, but Tsukishima grabbed the freckled boy by the hand and made for the door, saying, “Come on, we have to get out of here fast.”

As soon as they entered the hallway, the siren was louder and heightened their panic. Tsukishima looked around the hallways to decide which way to go. He mostly remembered the direction that they took him after they subdued him, but in his defense he had just been punched in the face and couldn’t see shit because they broke his glasses.

He made a noise of annoyance, but then Yamaguchi was suddenly tugging on his hand towards a different direction.

“C’mon, this way,” the shorter boy remarked.

Tsukishima looked at him with more than a little wonder and let himself be pulled. He still couldn’t see very well without his glasses, so they continued to hold hands tightly as they ran through the corridors.

As they turned a corner, Yamaguchi suddenly came to a halting stop, causing Tsukishima to smack into his back.

“Ow...was that really neces-”

“Shh!” Yamaguchi urged quickly and pulled them both back behind the corner.

In the next moment, three workers came running around the corner towards the cell Tsukishima was just in. The blonde flinched involuntarily, sure that they were going to be spotted, but the workers just ran past them. That’s when he realized that he and Yamaguchi couldn’t be seen.

When he was certain they wouldn’t be heard, he turned to Yamaguchi, “Did you hide us? You have Asahi’s ability too?”

Yamaguchi looked down at himself and murmured, “I guess so. I-I don’t know how to control it though, Tsukki. What if it happens out of nowhere!”

“It’ll be okay,” the other boy responded in a calm voice, “You can do this. We’re going to get out of here.”

Yamaguchi took a deep breath and nodded, before he looked at Tsukishima with determination in his eyes and said, “Okay. _Don’t_ let go of my hand.”

At that moment, a smile came over Tsukishima’s face. A smile reserved only for Yamaguchi in his most determined moments.

Giving the freckled boy an affirmative nod, the pair ran off down the hallway to begin their search for the others. 

It was relatively empty as they made their journey, which struck them both as odd. However, they quickly came to the conclusion that the siren must also be an evacuation signal. As far as the workers knew, there was a very angry student with multiple abilities on the loose, so it made sense.

Their surroundings were starting to look a bit more familiar, and Yamaguchi saw that they were on the correct floor for the room they were being held in.

“This is it!” Yamaguchi exclaimed joyfully, “We’re getting close, I can tell-”

They quickly rounded a corner to come face to face with one of the workers. 

Tsukishima reflexively pulled Yamaguchi into his side and prepared for any shots or blows, but then he noticed who it was. Standing there was the women he spoke to before, she was holding a gun pointed straight at them, but she didn’t seem inclined to shoot.

A few moments passed with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi watching her fearfully and breathing heavily, but after a quick assessment she put her gun down.

“I saw the files. You were right,” was all she said, directing her comment at Tsukishima.

Yamaguchi looked between the pair, still held in Tsukishima’s arms, but the blonde held her gaze.

“I can turn your collars off,” she said abruptly, making both boy’s eyes widen in surprise, “It’ll take a bit of work, but I can shut down all the collars.”

Swallowing, Tsukishima put on a stoic expression and replied, “Are you really on our side?”

The woman looked down for just a moment before meeting their eyes again, responding, “There are some bad people here, but most of us were students here before. I only started working here because I had nowhere else to go. If everything I saw in that file is true, then I’ll do whatever it takes to get you all out of here.”

Tsukishima gave a singular nod in thanks before the worker was on her way, presumably to turn off their collars.

After that, it was relatively easy to make their way to the room where the others were being held. When they managed to open the door with the keycard Yamaguchi swiped, they were met with the exhausted faces of their poor teammates, but that quickly changed once they saw who opened the door.

“Yamaguchi! Tsukishima! Oh my god you’re okay!” Suga cried out as the rest of the room erupted into happy exclamations.

Yamaguchi was nearly knocked over as Hinata came barrelling into him, and Tsukishima suffered the same treatment by Noya, except Noya was far more aggressive and had managed to wrap himself around the tall first year like a koala.

The others were close behind, hugging the pair with happy tears and a million questions.

But then suddenly Hinata exclaimed, “Wah! Yamaguchi! How’d you get your collar off?!”

Yamaguchi subconsciously touched his throat and quietly answered, “I, um, I told one of the workers to take it off…”

“What?” Tanaka asked in disbelief, “What do you mean? You just asked and he took it off?”

“No, I kind of made him do it...with my mind,” the freckled boy uttered slowly.

That’s when the questions really started pouring in.

“You can read minds!” Noya yelled and punched Yamaguchi in the arm, “No fair! That’s so cool!”

“Yeah I wish I could do that! That’s what Kenma has!” Hinata added loudly.

“He can heal too,” Tsukishima suddenly interjected, “And he has invisibility. And more.”

They all turned to look at Yamaguchi in shock, causing the first year to shrink back a little bit.

“Wait, what?” Daichi asked the freckled boy softly, “Really?”

Swallowing, Yamaguchi gave a tiny nod, before responding, “Yeah...and I think I can move stuff with my mind too, a-and I can teleport. And...oh, and electricity. And I think-”

“Oh my god,” Asahi surprisingly interrupted, “Wait, those are all of our powers. Does that mean…?”

“I think so,” Suga answered in wonder before turning to the boy in question and adding, “Yamaguchi, I think you have an empathy ability.”

“A what?” Yamaguchi looked at the third year in confusion, “What is that?”

“It means,” Tsukishima took over, “That you have the ability to take on the abilities of people you’ve met and bonded with to some extent, but unlike the king, you’re able to keep them all.”

Kageyama glared at the blonde, but otherwise kept his mouth shut.

The room was silent for a few moments. It was tense and Yamaguchi felt the urge to shrink into the back, not knowing what the others were thinking.

But then Hinata interrupted the silence, exclaiming, “What?! That’s so cool! I mean, I’m super jealous, I wish I could do a bunch of stuff, but that’s so freaking cool! Ahh! How come you never told us before Yamaguchi! That is the coolest thing ever!”

Yamaguchi laughed nervously as the tension in the room was broken and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Um, I never knew I had it. It doesn’t make sense, I was never able to use abilities before, so why now?”

“Those kinds of abilities are really powerful and usually stay pretty dormant unless they’re triggered by something,” Suga answered, “It's usually due to something traumatic or a strong emotion like anger or fear.”

Yamaguchi thought back to the room. To the moment that triggered everything. But he doesn’t think it was anger that did it. He’s felt plenty angry in his life before, and fear was second nature to him. Heck, he’s felt so scared that he thought he would pass out, but it’s never revealed his ability before. He couldn’t really name what caused it in that moment.

As he mulled over his thoughts, voices sounded outside of the room, and all of their attention turned to the door.

“Okay,” Daichi muttered, “We need a plan to get out of here. And fast.”

~

It wasn’t easy going through the corridors unseen with nine people, many of whom were not inclined to silence, but so far they were managing.

After Hinata tripped into Kageyama one too many times and the pair began wrestling in the hallway, Tsukishima muttered, “We’re going to have to split up. There’s too many of us to get through here unseen and we’re trying to get three other teams out of here as well.”

Daichi didn’t look like he liked the idea, answering, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. How are we going to find each other again?”

“We can meet back up on the third floor, and then we’ll go to the roof like we’ve been planning,” Tsukishima responded matter-of-factly.

The captain thought it over in his head. It wasn’t a terrible idea since they decided once they found a way to break out of the room they’d head for the roof, since it had a fire escape they could go down without having to get through levels of workers.

Daichi sighed before agreeing, “Fine. Fine we’ll split up to search the levels we know best, which means first years will search their floor, and the rest of us will search the other two floors. No way am I letting Tanaka and Noya search an entire floor by themselves.”

The second years protested, and Suga looked upset at having to split up, but this probably was their best chance, so they all agreed.

Yet, it seemed they were having a bit of luck, because Hinata noticed something that the other’s surprisingly didn’t yet.

“Hey!” the small blocker exclaimed and pointed at Kageyama’s collar, “The light on your collar is off!” 

Kageyama tried to look at his own collar, which was quite amusing for a few seconds, before looking at Hinata’s instead.

“So is yours,” Kageyama replied in surprise.

They looked around to see that, yes, everyone’s collar lights were turned off, and Suga began to ask, “Does that mean they’re deactivated?”

Directly after asking the question, a burst of fire flew by his head, causing him to flinch.

He turned to look over at Tanaka who was rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry,” the second year laughed nervously.

A smirk came over Tsukishima’s face as he realized the worker had been true to her word and he declared, “Maybe this won’t be too difficult after all.”

~

They had split up and now the first years were searching the floor where they did most of their training and counseling, but so far weren’t having much luck. Hinata was teleporting around every five seconds just because he could again, and Tsukishima was playing a game to see whether he could guess where Hinata would pop up so he could hit him with a forcefield.

Yet, the floor was oddly abandoned and they couldn’t find any signs of Nekoma. It was really off since Nekoma made sure to tell them the floor and wing they were being kept in, but they were here and there were no signs of them. Even stranger though was that they hadn’t run into any workers yet.

“Hm,” Hinata hummed in thought, “Do you think they have the day off today?”

“Yes, because evil institutions who kidnap teenagers are so mindful of holidays and weekends,” Tsukishima grumbled, causing Yamaguchi to try to hide a giggle.

Hinata glared at the blonde, but Yamaguchi answered Hinata before the pair could start a fight, “They’re probably evacuated, although, I’m not quite sure why they’d evacuate everyone.”

After a few more minutes of searching, Hinata groaned once more.

“Stop whining,” Kageyama grumbled to the small middle blocker with n real bite, but added, “It is weird though...do you think they already escaped?”

“If they escaped and left us behind while we’ve been searching for them this whole time,” Tsukishima replied, “I’m going to personally find a way to bring them back and lock them up again.”

Just then, they came across a door they hadn’t seen. It looked quite a bit like the one in their previous room before they’d been shoved into a cell, so Hinata probably couldn’t teleport in since they had a block against it.

“This looks like the one we were in. This might be it,” Tsukishima commented, “Yamaguchi, do you have the keycard?”

Nodding, he pulled out the card and tried swiping it across the door pad, but it didn’t open.

Yamaguchi’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he tried again, but to no avail. Sighing, he looked to the others and remarked, “I don’t think it works with these doors.”

The Kageyama came to Yamaguchi’s side and looked down at the code pad.

“I might be able to help,” the setter voiced, adding, “The last ability I absorbed was a tech ability, so maybe I could open it.”

Tsukishima looked at the other with an annoyed expression, “And you’re just telling us this now? Why didn’t you say that when we had to sneak past the cameras earlier. Hinata almost blew our cover.”

Yamaguchi sighed and began speaking before the pair could fight, “Okay Kageyama, let’s try to open this. You two go stand guard in the hallway.”

“I don’t wanna stand guard with stingyshima," Hinata complained, "He’s being mean, and he can’t even see anyways! What good will he do."

Yamaguchi gave Hinata a look, getting muttered complaints in response, but Hinata eventually turned to stand guard with Tsukishima.

As he ignored the noises of Tsukishima and Hinata throwing insults at each other while they stood guard, Yamaguchi turned his attention back to the door with Kageyama.

“Okay, so do you think you can open it?” Yamaguchi asked gently.

Kageyama ran a hand over the pad, answering, “I think so, but I’ll have to focus.”

“Okay,” Yamaguchi smiled, “Take your time.”

Yamaguchi watched the determined expression on Kageyama’s face with a smile. He could tell Kageyama was still a little uncomfortable with him. Still being eaten alive by guilt. But all Yamaguchi wanted was to go back to the way things were.

About ten minutes passed and Kageyama was still struggling with the lock. Tsukishima and Hinata were clearly getting more antsy, if the background insults and annoyed expressions were any indication, and Yamaguchi was losing hope.

“I don’t know,” Kageyama began, “We might have to try someth-”

He was interrupted by the sound of someone yelling, and looked over to see three workers at the end of the hallway.

Tsukishima turned towards Hinata with a glare, “Why weren’t you standing guard, you idiot!”

“You weren’t either!” Hinata angrily returned.

 _“I can’t see!”_ the blonde yelled with finality.

Just then the workers pulled out their guns and fired their way. 

Tsukishima grabbed Hinata and pulled him out of the way just in time, covering his smaller body as best as he could. But in no time at all the workers were pointing at them again, fingers ready to pull, and Tsukishima prepared to put a forcefield around them.

However, in the next moment, he found himself at the other end of the hallway still holding onto Hinata.

He looked around and realized what happened before turning to Hinata.

“You teleported us _behind_ them?!” the taller boy yelled.

“I panicked!” Hinata yelled back, “I mess up when I’m nervous okay!”

The workers looked around in confusion when the pair disappeared before them, turning around with uncertainty at Tsukishima and Hinata’s voices which were now behind them.

“You know what?” Tsukishima continued angrily, “If we survive this, I am never partnering with you again.”

Before he could continue, Yamaguchi’s voice rang out.

“Tsukki! Look out!”

The blonde looked up to see the guns raised again, but before he could react the workers froze.

Tsukishima watched them in confusion as the workers put down their guns and stood still.

Then he noticed that Yamaguchi was looking at the workers with an intense expression, eyes unblinking and focused.

“Woah…” he heard Hinata murmur next to him.

The guns were telekinetically thrown to the end of the hallway and one of the guards approached Yamaguchi and Kageyama. He stood in front of the door before entering numbers into the code pad.

They heard the door unlock with a clink.

Hinata laughed triumphantly next to him, and Tsukishima couldn’t help the small smile that came over his own face.

Tsukishima approached Yamaguchi slowly as the freckled boy instructed the workers to sleep. Carefully, he took one of his hands and encouraged Yamaguchi to look at him. The other looked a little out of it, but he seemed to mostly be there.

Gently, the blonde ran his thumb over the other’s hand and spoke softly, “Yamaguchi? You okay?”

Blinking a few times, Yamaguchi looked into Tsukishima’s eyes before a small smile came over his face.

“Yeah, Tsukki.”

The pair turned their attention to the door and watched as Kageyama pulled it open.

When they were met with the weary expression of the Nekoma team, they felt more hope than they had in a long time.

“Shoyou?” the Nekoma setter almost whispered.

With happy tears, Hinata went running at Kenma and grabbed the other in a hug. The rest of the room followed suit, everyone hugging at their reunion much to Tsukishima’s annoyance. 

As Lev did his best to crush Hinata in a hug, Yamaguchi explained how they got out and what they were planning.

“But we still need to get Fukurodani and Shiratorizawa out,” the first year finished after his explanation.

“Damn, Freckles,” the Nekoma captain replied looking impressed, “Wish I had your ability. But don’t worry, I think we’ll be able to help you out well enough, and I know exactly where they’re holding Bokuto and his team.”

Yamaguchi blushed but nodded in thanks before Tsukishima interrupted them, “Kuroo, do you think you can get Nekoma and Fukurodani to the roof?”

Kuroo grinned and put a hand on hip cockily, replying, “I probably could. What do you have planned, Tsukki?”

“There’s a fire escape there,” the blonde replied, ignoring the nickname, and added, “It’s probably the best way to get your team and the others out of here safely.”

Kuroo nodded and turned to the rest of Nekoma, “Okay, everyone stay close together. We’ll get Bokuto and the others out then we’ll head to the roof.”

Nekoma filed out of the room, and Kenma gave Hinata a soft, “Stay safe,” before they were gone.

Afterwards, the Karasuno first years headed to the third floor to meet up with the rest of the team, but as they passed through a certain corridor, Tsukishima’s face began to darken.

Yamaguchi looked over at the taller boy in question, gently prompting, “Tsukki? What’s wrong?”

He saw Tsukishima's eyes locked onto one door in particular, squinting as he tried to see better, before replying, “Nothing. Nothing, just…”

Giving one last look, Tsukishima turned to Yamaguchi and said, “Yamaguchi, head to the third floor with Kageyama and Hinata. I’ll be right behind you.”

“What?” Yamaguchi replied in distress, “No, come with us!”

“I will, I promise I will. I just have something to take care of,” Tsukishima answered, looking into Yamaguchi’s eyes imploringly.

“Please, Yamaguchi. I’ll be right behind you.”

Yamaguchi wore a conflicted expression as he fought the urge to make the other boy follow them, but he finally gave in to Tsukishima’s stare.

“Fine. Fine, but you better be right behind us,” Yamaguchi answered with words meant to be intimidating but which were offset by the soft look in his eyes.

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around Tsukishima and squeezed the other boy in a hug, murmuring into his neck, “Please stay safe, Tsukki.”

The blonde’s hands slowly wove around Yamaguchi’s form and squeezed back. Then Yamaguchi pulled away and left with the others before he could change his mind.

Tsukishima watched until they disappeared all the way down the hallway, waiting until the Yamaguchi's messy hair could no longer be seen. Then, he turned back to the door he had been previously looking at. 

He knew it led to Akiya’s office and laboratory, and he had some unfinished business with him.

~

Tendou looked around at the Shiratorizawa team. He’s lost count of how long they’d been in here, but from the dark circles and gaunt expressions of his teammates, he knew it had been a long time.

When they first arrived, it wasn’t that bad. They were put through tests and given injections, but it wasn’t bad. The injections didn’t hurt at all and their abilities advanced exponentially, but apparently that was why things changed.

Their team was able to take the injections without side effects and their abilities were advancing faster than usual they were told, so they were put to the test. They forced them to take injection after injection, sometimes twice daily, and put them through rigorous training. Eventually, it took its toll and they started getting sick. 

It had been horrible. For a week, Tendou had been so sick he couldn’t move. He thought he would die, but he made it through. When he woke up, he saw Ushijima on the sickbed next to him, looking just as sick as he was. 

Since then, they’ve been locked in medical, weak and unable to do anything. Tendou wasn’t one to be pessimistic, but even he was starting to realize that they would probably never get out of here alive.

But that evening, as their team lied sick and helpless in the medical room, a vision came to him. Tendou had the ability of precognition, which meant he occasionally would get glimpses of events to happen in the future, and what he saw brought a smile to his face.

_Glimpses of Karasuno running the corridors came to his mind, and he saw two other familiar teams as well. They were on a roof. A red light was flashing from somewhere, and everyone looked panicked. And there was a freckled boy. The Karasuno pinch server? His eyes were closed, wind blowing through his long hair and clothes hanging off him. Then, suddenly, the boy’s eyes opened, and everything froze._

And the vision was over.

It was a broken glimpse of the future, and he didn’t understand it all, but he could tell it was a good sign. A sign of hope.

From a few beds over, he heard Goshiki sigh labored, chest rattling with every breath. Quietly, the boy rasped, “We’re never getting out of here, are we?”

A smile came over Tendou’s face and he looked at the other with hope in his eyes.

“I have a good feeling that we will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot in this chapter but I hope you enjoyed it! There are definitely a few cliffhangers due to me having to split it up into two parts, but the final chapter will be out very soon! 
> 
> Thank you so much everyone for reading <3


	10. Finale: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this finale ended up being MASSIVE :'D
> 
> I almost split it up once again, but it reads better together, and I couldn't make you all wait once again haha. So here it is! I hope you all enjoy the very last chapter of this fic! <3

Nekoma had managed to get Fukurodani out without much trouble. They ran into one worker, but Kenma quickly got into her head and grabbed a keycard, making their journey even smoother. 

But the setter had seen a few things in the workers head, and now knew that many of the workers had evacuated because they learned that Akiya had been lying to them, as well as Yamaguchi’s escape. Yet, there were still a few who decided to stay and they were trying to turn the collars back on amongst other things.

They decided to head to the control room, to see if Kuroo could break into the system, but it was littered with workers, and even Kenma couldn’t get a control on them all.

Kuroo peered around the corner and groaned as he saw all the workers, saying, “There’s no way we’re getting in there. Maybe we should just try to get the hell out of here and hope they won’t catch us.”

“We’ll never make it out without at least Kenma’s ability,” Akaashi replied calmly, “He’s the only reason we’re getting past the stray workers. And even if we get out, there are undoubtedly trackers in these collars. They’ll easily find us.”

Yaku sighed from behind Kuroo, “Well we’re not getting in there, so how are we supposed to turn them off?”

The group was silent for a few moments, unable to come up with an answer.

Then Kenma quietly said, “What if they didn’t have any power to use the control room?”

A smirk came over Kuroo’s face as he watched Kenma.

“Perfect.”

So that’s how they ended up breaking into one of the back rooms in search of circuit boxes. Kuroo put in the code to the lock, easily opening it, and looked at the distribution board.

As he looked at the electrical panel, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It looked completely different from anything he’s seen before. Even with his ability, he was having a hard time figuring out the functions of each component.

“What the hell is this,” Kuroo muttered, “How am I supposed to turn any of these off? There aren’t even any wires!”

Akaashi nudged him a little to take a look at the panel. 

He took a few moments examining the components and squinting in concentration, but eventually he anticlimactically responded, “I don’t know.”

Kuroo pursed his lips in annoyance and nudged the other back over so he could look again. 

“So...maybe this is the circuit breaker, and this could be the transformer? Or maybe...but where’s the contactor,” Kuroo murmured to himself as he fiddled with the panel.

After a few minutes, he threw his hands up and groaned loudly, declaring, “Forget it! None of this makes sense, I don’t even know how to turn it on or off.”

Just then, Bokuto walked up to the control panel and took a look at it. He examined it for a few moments before gripping each side. And then he pulled.

The entire box ripped off the wall like it was nothing and they were delved into darkness as the lights around them went out.

The group was silent for a few moments, until Kuroo started laughing loudly.

“That’ll work,” the Nekoma captain chuckled, throwing an arm around Bokuto, “That enhanced strength really does come in handy doesn’t it?”

Bokuto looked proudly at his work before turning to Akaashi and seeking praise, which earned him a pat on the head.

“It should be easier to get through the doors now,” Yaku spoke into the darkness, adding, “And the camera’s should be off as well, even if it’ll be harder to see. Lev, you better not step on me.”

Lev smiled and blindly reached out to find Yaku, smacking him in the face momentarily before landing on his shoulder.

“I won’t Yaku-san! But you’re so small that it’ll be really hard,” the tall first year responded cheerfully.

The rest of the group heard a grunt of pain and didn’t even need the lights on to know what happened. 

Afterwards, they entered the hallways once again, finding it a bit easier to see now that they were outside of the back room. They ended up linking hands in pairs to make sure no one got left behind, and made their way to the roof once more.

~

Tsukishima walked through the corridors slowly, looking at each room carefully before moving on. He knows which one he’s looking for, he had been there before for a private training session, and he knows it’s where Akiya will be now.

But as he was searching, the lights suddenly shut off around him, causing him to pause momentarily and look around the now dim hallway, annoyed that now it would be even more difficult to see. It was dark, but light enough to see still, so he continued walking until he came across a familiar door.

He looked down at the handle, seeing that it was electronically controlled, and slowly opened the door. It opened easily now that the power in the building was out.

The door opened silently, revealing the dimly lit laboratory of Akiya. The only available light was from the small windows which cast the room in a moonlit glow. It felt oddly empowering.

“Come in, Tsukishima Kei,” Akiya voiced from across the room.

Tsukishima didn't even flinch as he heard his name being called. He simply stared at where Akiya was sitting at a table, messing with one of his experiments. Moonlight flashed over Tsukishima's glasses as he did as instructed and closed the door behind him, lingering with his hand on the door knob before finally pulling away fully.

“I’m sure,” Akiya continued, “That you’re here because you’re unhappy with your experience thus far. However, I’m afraid I can’t do much to fix it now.”

Tsukishima’s expression didn’t change as he watched the man work. The other was simply continuing to fiddle with an experiment, as if his students weren’t breaking out and taking over the facility.

Then, Akiya spoke again, sounding more tired this time.

“You probably think this is some huge government conspiracy, hm? Some grand scheme to take over the world? Well, I’m sorry to say you’re wrong. What we do here is educational. That’s all.”

“...what?” Tsukishima asked lowly, genuinely confused.

“This isn’t some evil government laboratory set on taking over the world, you know. I’m a scientist. Just like how it took test after test to get man on the moon, it takes test after test to reveal the inner workings of human ability. It’s not that absurd when you think about it, now is it Tsukishima Kei.”

Tsukishima ignored the patronizing tone of Akiya’s statement, and responded, “So, you think kidnapping teenagers, and putting collars on them, and forcing them to take injections is normal?”

“I think it’s a necessary evil,” Akiya shot back quickly.

Tsukishima gave the other a humorless smirk, and responded, “I’ve seen all the necessary evil you’ve done. I know how many people you’ve used. How many people you’ve killed. Exactly how many people will you go through before you no longer consider it to be justified?” 

He saw the faint smile Akiya gave from across the room, before the other man put down his work and sat back in his seat. He looked like he was about to speak, but was interrupted by the faint noise of undoubtedly loud cheers suddenly coming from somewhere else in the building.

Tsukishima looked towards that direction in curiosity, but he was distracted from his assessment by Akiya’s voice, sounding tired and humorless despite the small laugh he emitted.

“It seems your friends reunited. And found the transformer," he laughed, but then he added, "That’s fine, I won’t need it.”

Tsukishima gave the other a perplexed look, but the other suddenly changed subjects again.

“...You all have a gift now. A gift that will progress humans. And that’s because of what I do here. What I’ve _done_ here. Do you really think the human race would have gotten where it is now without some casualties?”

The blonde was beginning to tire of the other’s self-righteous speech, and took a few steps forward before asking, “...and what about Yamaguchi. Hm?”

Akiya looked confused for a moment, asking, “Yamaguchi Tadashi?”

“Yes,” Tsukishima bit back forcefully, “What about him? If you thought he didn’t have an ability, why did you decide to keep him only to torture him?”

Akiya leaned back in his seat and gave Tsukishima an unblinking look, answering, “I knew he had an ability from the beginning.”

“...what?” Tsukishima responded, unable to hide his disbelief.

“I knew from his first session that he had an ability,” Akiya repeated, then continued nonchalantly, “No one else knew, I was the only one. It’s easy to recognize when someone has an ability, even if it’s dormant. After all, he broke a pot with his bare hands using your captain's ability. He wouldn’t have shown the signs he did if he didn’t have one. I should know, as someone who was actually born without an ability.”

And suddenly it made sense, why Akiya would start this whole thing. And all Tsukishima could think was how pathetic it was.

“So...because you were some pathetic kid who thought that the world was unfair since you didn’t have an ability, you decided to take everyone else’s?”

“Careful, Tsukishima,” Akiya said quietly, “Remember that you believed your friend was that pathetic kid not that long ago.”

“I never believed that,” Tsukishima shot back, keeping his voice as controlled as possible, “Even if in the end Yamaguchi never had an ability, he would be everything you aren’t.”

Then Tsukishima smirked and tilted his head before adding, “And I guess now that he has not one, but multiple abilities, he really is everything you aren’t.”

“Then you should be thanking me for being able to bring that ability out in him,” Akiya replied undisturbed.

“I should be thanking you?” Tsukishima asked incredulously, “Should I be thanking you for torturing him? For starving him?”

“Or maybe,” he took a few steps closer to Akiya, “I should be thanking you for what _happened_ to him.”

He could see from the look in Akiya’s eyes that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Eventually, Akiya turned away and sighed, before taking a deep breath.

Then he slowly began, “What happened to him was never meant to happen...Hishino became very attached to him early on, and practically begged me not to get rid of him. At first, I really didn’t know it was happening.”

Akiya paused for a moment before beginning again, “But then, I thought...perhaps it could be beneficial. If the goal was to push Yamaguchi to reveal his ability, then what better situation than that?”

Tsukishima froze as he took in what Akiya had just said. He felt a range of emotions fall over him.

At that moment, he felt like he truly experienced rage for the first time. He felt it flood his chest and fog his mind.

But he didn’t show any of that. Instead, he simply walked over to a securely locked cabinet, which was no longer locked due to the power outage, and opened it.

As he took out a labeled syringe and prepared it, he began speaking again, calmly saying, “You really are nothing like Yamaguchi. Despite everything, Yamaguchi always put others first. He could’ve gone the other way. He could’ve been like you and hurt others because he didn’t have an ability, but he didn’t. Instead, he tried his hardest to better himself and helped others…”

Tsukishima paused in his actions as he considered his own words, quietly adding, “I always thought it was pointless. What’s the point in trying to be better and caring about others? But looking at you now, I think I understand."

Tsukishima met the other's eyes, looking at him with a disgust in his eyes. 

"You are the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

At this point, Tsukishima had the syringe ready and approached Akiya. The other man didn’t seem particularly inclined to fight back. He seemed to realize that he had lost, but just in case Tsukishima put a shield around himself so he couldn’t fight back. 

He held up the syringe and showed it to the doctor, giving him a full view and commenting, “I’m sure you know what this is. You’ve certainly given it to enough people. This is the injection you gave thousands when they know longer served a purpose. This is the injection that puts people through an excruciatingly painful death. I learned about a while back when I broke into your system. I think it was right before our talk in fact.”

Akiya was very still. It looked like he was doing his absolute best not to reveal any emotions, but Tsukishima caught the slight widening of his eyes. The minute twitch of his hand.

“It’s not as if I’ve just been sitting back and enjoying myself since I came here,” the blonde continued, “And your revolutionary technology wasn’t all that difficult to break into.”

Then, with his height leaving him towering over the sitting Akiya, he leaned over the other and smiled condescendingly, taunting, “I think you overestimate yourself Dr. Akiya.” 

Akiya finally glared at the other as he recognized the words he had said not that long ago to Tsukishima. It was the first bit of genuine emotion Tsukishima had seen from him, and he felt a jolt of satisfaction run through him. 

Yet, it quickly soured in his chest, and he no longer felt the thrill of playing mind games with this man. It was no longer entertaining, and he was left with an empty feeling in his chest.

As he grabbed the other's arm, he wasn’t surprised when the other didn’t fight him. He really had given up. So, Tsukishima tilted his head as he watched the man before him, and uttered the last words he wanted this person to hear.

Quietly, almost in a whisper, he said, “Just so you know, I really do understand better than most how your head works. I suppose I think in a similar way. Emotions are inconvenient, and there’s no point in catering to them. It’s easier to think of people as test subjects.”

Then, he kneeled next to the other so he could look him straight in the eyes, and finished, “But I also want you to know...that because of what you did to Yamaguchi, I’m going to kill you in the most painful way possible. And I hope you suffer like no one has before, and maybe then you’ll feel even a fraction of what I felt, as I had to watch the only person to ever want to be my friend go through hell.”

He gave the other one last unflinching moment of eye contact before standing up and uncapping the syringe.

Akiya finally reacted, scoffing before he sniped, “You certainly sound emotional for someone who claims to not care about emotions,” 

As Tsukishima looked for a vein, he smiled and replied, “Yeah, well, I’m about to kill you, so I suppose that secret will stay between us, huh?”

And with that, he stuck the syringe in the others arm and pushed.

He didn’t stick around for the aftermath. He didn’t need to watch this man’s suffering, it was enough to know it was there. 

But as he walked to the door, finally ready to move on and go back to Yamaguchi, the man said his last parting words.

“It won’t matter that I die,” Akiya said, annoyingly calm for someone who had a few more minutes to live, before continuing, “I sent out everything I’ve learnt and everything that’s happened here to the world before you came. Everyone will know now that we can have abilities beyond our imaginations. And I assure you, someone will continue my work.”

Tsukishima stared at his hand on the doorknob for a few moments. Then he turned back with a smile and replied, “Good. Now the world will know everything you did to us.”

Then he left.

He didn’t give the other another second of his time. It didn’t matter if the world knew about enhanced abilities. No one will care after they learn about the torture and genocide that came from it. All it meant was that they’d have more evidence against this facility in the end.

Taking a deep breath, Tsukishima walked down the dimly lit hallways and felt a weight lift from him. The moonlight was now shining softly through the high windows, artfully lighting up the dark hallway and bringing him a sense of tranquility. For the first time since he came here, he felt at peace.

With a small smile, Tsukishima made his way to the third floor, thinking to himself that there’s nothing he wanted to see more than Yamaguchi’s smiling face right now. 

_Maybe when this is all over,_ he thought, _Yamaguchi and I can go out on a date sometime._

~

Yamaguchi, Hinata, and Kageyama ran through the hallways trying to get to the third floor without drawing attention to themselves. However, it wasn’t as easy to navigate with Tsukishima gone, since he had apparently been mapping the place out in his free time since they arrived, and Hinata and Kageyama weren’t exactly the best navigators. Now, they were stuck once again at the choice of going either left or right, in the center of a huge corridor which branched off left, right, or back the way they came.

“It’s this way!” Hinata yelled pointing to a hallway towards their left.

Kageyama pulled him back by his shirt and argued, “We tried that way last time! I think it’s to the right.”

Hinata shuffled in the other’s hold and angrily insisted it was the other way, until Yamaguchi became worried he’d have to break up a fight.

Yet, all of their yelling caused a different kind of issue, and they soon saw a shadow coming from around the corner.

Quickly, Kageyama pulled Hinata behind the corner of the hallway and clamped his hand over the smaller boy’s mouth. Hinata struggled momentarily, but stopped when he heard the slow footsteps from down the hallway.

They hadn’t been seen yet, but they were undoubtedly heard, and Yamaguchi froze as he was trapped on the other side of the hallway which only had a dead end on the other side.

Kageyama and Hinata could just run down back down the hallway from their position, but Yamaguchi could only escape by running across to where they were which would definitely be seen. He pressed himself against the wall as much as he could, only having a tiny bit of wall to cover him. 

Kageyama and Hinata were waving him over frantically, but he shook his head quickly, since he knew he would be seen if he ran across the hallway. The other two seemed to understand the issue, and they looked around in thought.

The footsteps were nearing ever closer, slow but methodical in their approach, and Yamaguchi felt his hands sweat as his heartrate sped up.

As Yamaguchi saw the shadow come into his line of sight, he knew time was up and he was going to be forced to fight hand to hand with the worker, which wasn’t ideal since he was heavily malnourished and never had many fighting skills to begin with. 

As soon as he could see the worker, he swung out a fist, but the man had much better reflexes, and dodged it easily. Quickly, he grabbed one of Yamaguchi’s wrists and twisted it behind him, causing the freckled boy to trip forward and press into the wall face first, causing him to whimper slightly in pain as he felt blood drip down his nose from the impact.

In the blink of an eye, the man slapped on some handcuffs and was dragging him away from the wall, pulling him by his underarms. Yamaguchi struggled and kicked out his feet as he was dragged away, his raggedy shirt shucked up in his struggle, but he couldn’t do much in his current state, and he couldn’t feel his abilities either.

Yet, he was only dragged a few feet before someone was by his side, and he suddenly felt the man let go of him. He was dropped painfully and as he turned around he saw Kageyama delivering swift, deadly punches to the worker. 

Getting up to his feet as best as he could without his hands, he saw the blood already pouring out of the worker’s face and knew he was already unconscious, but Kageyama didn’t look like he was stopping.

Yamaguchi tripped as he tried to stand up and shouted, “Kageyama stop! He’s unconscious stop it!”

But the other wasn’t stopping, and he saw an anger in those blue eyes that scared him. 

Before he could do anything else though, Hinata was by Kageyama’s side and pulling at his shoulders roughly.

“Bakageyama stop it! It’s okay now, just stop! Please!” the small boy yelled and pulled at the other.

Kageyama finally pulled back and looked at Hinata for a few moments before letting out a raggedy breath. Slowly, he got up and stood shakily, before surprising them all and pulling Hinata into a tight hug.

The smaller boy looked stiff at first, but slowly wrapped his arms around the other as well and whispered, “It’s okay now. We’re safe now.”

Kageyama nodded and slowly let go of the other before making his way towards Yamaguchi. He turned the freckled boy around and started working on the handcuffs, which were thankfully electronically controlled, so he could take them off. 

Quietly, the setter said, “...I’m sorry, Yamaguchi.”

Yamaguchi’s chest clenched as he heard those words, because he had a feeling Kageyama wasn’t just talking about this situation. He wanted to turn around to look at the other’s face, but he was still taking off his handcuffs and the other was already speaking again.

“I didn’t mean to lose control,” he whispered, and once again Yamaguchi felt he was referring to something else, before continuing, “...Tsukishima told me to look out for you. And I...I just...I’m really sorry. I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

The handcuffs unlocked with a click and Yamaguchi pulled his hands in front of him slowly. He turned to look at the other boy, and a soft smile came over his face.

Before he could think otherwise, he pulled the other into a hug and whispered, “It’s okay, Kageyama. I forgive you.”

He let go of the other and turned to Hinata as well, pulling the smaller boy into a hug which he returned with enthusiasm. He buried his face into the fluffy orange hair and felt grateful in that moment that they were all okay. 

When he pulled back, he saw blood mixed in the shorter boy’s fiery hair and winced.

“Sorry, Hinata. I got your hair dirty,” Yamaguchi murmured and tried to wipe the blood out of the other’s hair with his shirt, but Hinata was looking at his face in shock.

“Your nose is bleeding!” Hinata yelled, trying to hold Yamaguchi’s face still, “Ah! Where is Suga?! He needs to heal you!” 

Yamaguchi giggled at the other’s panic, feeling more relaxed himself now, until there was another noise from down the hallway.

Quickly, Kageyama was pushing them all back behind the wall and peering around the corner.

Judging from the shadows, it was a lot more people this time, and they didn’t feel prepared to take on an entire group right now, so they silently looked between each other.

They were about to start heading down the hallway when they heard a voice.

“Look at this!” a familiar voice laughed loudly, “Some dumbass got his ass kicked. Serves him right.” 

A wide smile came over Yamaguchi’s face and they all came out of hiding.

“Noya!” Hinata yelled, and they found that not only were the entirety of the second and third years there, but also all of Shiratorizawa as well.

The other group quickly came running towards them and they reunited with smiles. 

“You made it!” Daichi exclaimed, looking them over and immediately noticing someone missing, “Where’s Tsukishima?”

Yamaguchi quietly responded, “He said he had to do something, and that he’ll meet us on the roof.” 

Then, the blocker from Shiratorizawa who had always scared Yamaguchi spoke up excitedly, “It’s you!”

Yamaguchi jumped and looked at Tendou with wide eyes, responding, “Me?”

“Yes! You’re the one I saw in my vision! He’s the one I was talking about ‘Toshi,” the tall boy responded, nudging the Shiratorizawa captain slightly. 

Ushijima nodded and gave the freckled boy a once over which immediately made Yamaguchi want to hide.

Tendou put a finger to his lips though in a show of exaggerated thought and added, "I'm still not sure why though..."

Yamaguchi shrank under their unflinching stares, but thankfully, Suga interrupted the discussion, and grabbed his face gently, exclaiming, “Tadashi! You’re bleeding!”

Before Yamaguchi could respond the other was closing his eyes and healing his injury. As he worked, Asahi stepped forward and asked, “Did you find Nekoma?”

“Yep!” Hinata shouted with a huge grin, adding, “They’re getting Fukurodani out and we’ll meet on the roof!”

“Really?” Suga inquired as he gently cleaned the blood off of Yamaguchi’s face with his own shirt.

At Hinata’s nod, Daichi looked over their large group and said, “Let’s head there then. We can start making our way down the fire escape.”

As the group nodded in agreement, another voice came from down the hallway.

“You were really going to leave us behind like that, huh?”

The group turned around to find Nekoma and Fukurodani waiting at the end, with Kuroo smirking at them from the front.

“No way!” Tanaka laughed, and friends from various groups began reuniting enthusiastically.

In their rush to escape, it was an immense relief to finally have everyone together after not knowing what happened to each other. For Karasuno, they had only seen the Nekoma and Fukurodani a handful of times since they arrived, and they hadn’t really seen Shiratorizawa at all. So, no one was blaming that few tears that slipped as everyone was reunited with their friends and rivals.

Daichi laughed as he gave the Nekoma captain a hug, asking, “How’d you find us?”

“Kenma. He said, and I quote, 'I can hear all of their loud thoughts from here,'” Kuroo smirked.

“That’s so awesome!” Hinata yelled and jumped excitedly in front of the softly smiling setter.

Suga quickly asked, “Could you find Tsukishima that way then? Where is he?”

At that moment, a monotone voice sounded from somewhere in the back of the group, and they saw a raised hand as a tall blonde made his way to the front.

“Here,” Tsukishima announced, sounding very tired, but as Bokuto threw an arm around him they kind of figured why.

“We found him trying to open the door to a cleaning closet,” Bokuto laughed unrestrained.

“I’d like to see you try to distinguish an 8 from a 3 when you’re basically blind, Bokuto-san,” Tsukishima mumbled.

Before the captain could respond, Tsukishima noticed movement from the other group and saw that it was Yamaguchi pushing his way through a few people.

As soon as he saw the freckled boy, he slipped out from under Bokuto’s arm and made his way to the other.

The blonde couldn’t stop his hands from flittering over Yamaguchi, sliding over his arms before just barely brushing his cheek.

“Yamaguchi...is that blood?” he whispered, squinting at the tiny bit of blood Suga couldn’t clean off.

Yamaguchi had his hands locked on Tsukishima’s arms as he looked at the taller boy’s face, unable to tear his eyes away.

“I’m okay, Tsukki,” he whispered back, asking, “Are you okay?”

Tsukishima closed his mouth tightly and gave the other a small nod, gently thumbing over Yamaguchi’s cheek where his hand was resting.

Tsukishima felt his stomach tighten as they stood there, he had absolutely no desire to look away from Yamaguchi’s face, but he could practically feel Kuroo’s amused, smug eyes burning holes into his back. So he cleared his throat subtly and slid his hand down Yamaguchi’s arms until they were at his own sides, yet he didn’t move away from Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima reminded himself to thank Daichi later, because the captain was clearing his throat and speaking again before Kuroo or anyone else could start making comments, “Okay, well, if we have everyone here, we should get to the roof and start making our way down the escape.”

The promise of escape seemed to excite the now very large group of four teams, and Kuroo put a hand on his hip before responding, “Right. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

~

It was much easier to get to the roof with the third floor cleared, and as they pushed open the hatch to climb onto the roof, they were delighted to find that it too was completely clear.

It was their first taste of fresh air since they’d been kidnapped, and it took a lot of wrangling to get some of the more rowdy players under control.

Lev immediately ran out onto the large roof with a big smile, shouting, “Outside! We’re outside!”

Noya was quick to follow the extremely tall first year out and the pair began running around excitedly. It was more than a little amusing to watch the tallest and shortest two there skipping around together but also quite endearing.

Daichi sighed at the noise they were making, and Hinata joining in on their celebration wasn’t helping. Yet, as more of the younger players from various teams - and Bokuto - joined in on their celebrating, it was hard to tell them to stop. They’d been through so much already, and it was nice to see them get to act like themselves for a moment. Even that first year from Shiratorizawa was joining in.

Hinata was trying to pull a giggling Yamaguchi into their antics when Daichi finally said, “Okay, okay, let’s try to keep it down guys. We don’t know who might still be here.”

Yet, even as Daichi said it he thought that there was probably no one there. It was eerily quiet all around them. The sky was still dark, so it was hard to see where they were exactly, and the wind was blowing quite strongly, ruffling all of their hair and making the night feel even colder. He saw Tsukishima looking up at the night stars as the wind blew through his blonde hair, and next to him Yamaguchi was shivering as his now long locks fluttered around him.

Kuroo grabbed Lev as he first year went running by, and pulled him back to Yaku’s side absentmindedly, looking around and asking, “So, where’s the fire escape?”

“They should have one,” Suga responded distractedly as he checked the edges of the roof, adding, “What kind of multi-story building doesn’t have a fire escape?”

Suddenly, Semi called out from another edge, “Over here! Look!”

They went over to see what the Shiratorizawa member was looking at to find that there was indeed a ladder, but it was cut off about half way down.

“What the hell,” Suga muttered, “What good is a fire escape that cuts off half way?”

It was hard to see in the dark and windy weather, but it became clear by the melted ends at the bottom of the ladder that it was intentionally cut off.

“Those assholes did this on purpose!” Yamamoto yelled from next to Kenma, “They knew we were escaping and took away the only other way we could get out!”

“Then,” Ushijima suddenly began slowly, looking at the others in confusion, “Isn’t it possible to go down to the first floor? Since the power is off, the entrance might be unlocked, and between all of us I’m sure we could take on any reinforcements they have down there.”

But Daichi shook his head, replying, “We can’t. Yamaguchi and Hinata can tell you that the entrance is totally barricaded. Even without power, we can’t get through.”

“Then what’ll we do?” Bokuto asked, standing close to Akaashi as he shivered from the cold night air.

Daichi looked around at the teams on the roof and grimaced his eyebrows in frustration.

Then Hinata spoke up, smiling as brightly as the sun as he exclaimed, “I know!”

All four teams turned to the small blocker, who even in the darkness stood out, to listen to him.

“I can teleport us down!” the small boy cheered, continuing, “I was able to do it with Tsukishima earlier, so I bet I could do it again!”

“You could teleport all of us down?” Akaashi asked softly.

Hinata pursed his lips in thought, and replied, “Well, not at the same time...but I could do it one at a time I bet! It might go a little slow, but I’m sure I could do it!”

Daichi smiled as he listened to the smaller boy’s idea and responded, “That’s a great idea, Hinata. We’ll just have to go as fast as we can, and once everyone is safely on the ground, we’ll get out of here.”

“But Daichi,” Asahi interrupted quietly, “Will it be okay to take that long? What if someone comes up to take us back?”

Kuroo answered for Daichi, affirming, “Then we’ll all be here to fight them off. We’ve got four great teams here with enhanced abilities. I think we’ll win that fight.”

Daichi nodded in agreement and clapped Asahi’s shoulder before announcing, “Okay, then let’s not wait any longer. The faster we do this the better. Who wants to go first?”

No one seemed inclined to volunteer themselves to be the first to escape, so in the end they decided to begin with the first years of each team first and work their way from there.

Shiratorizawa was by far in the worst shape, so they started with the first years from there. They watched Hinata hold onto Goshiki’s hand and concentrate, and within a few seconds the pair disappeared.

Everyone held their breath as they waited for whatever came next. A lot of things could go wrong in this situation, since Hinata’s ability wasn’t completely stable yet and he had never done this to this extent before, but it was their only option.

However, after about thirty seconds, Hinata reappeared by himself back onto the roof, eyes shut tightly before peeking out of them.

“I did it!” the small blocker announced happily, high fiving Noya and giggling under the aggressive head pat Bokuto was giving him.

Daichi let out a sigh of relief that it worked. It took longer than expected, but they could still get out of here if they just kept it going. 

Tendou was laughing and waving wildly over the edge of the roof at the tiny figure of Goshiki, who was shivering on the ground with an undoubtedly grumpy expression.

Kuroo laughed as well at the display, before saying, “Nice going Chibi-chan. Alright, who’s next then?”

Hinata grabbed the next person, and once again he was successful. By the third person, everyone was feeling pretty optimistic. Hinata was able to get them generally to the same area before making his way back to the roof, but it seemed that with every attempt it took just a little bit longer. 

By the fourth person, it was up to about fifty seconds per person, and not only that, but Hinata was also beginning to look a little drained. 

Suga rubbed his hand over the smaller boy’s back and gently asked, “Hinata? Are you okay to keep going? You can take a break if you want?”

“No!” Hinata yelled, “I’m fine! It just takes a lot of energy...but I can do it! I just might need a few breaks.’

“Take your time, Hinata,” Yamaguchi said quietly from his side with a smile, “You can take as many breaks as you need.”

Hinata continued after a little, and it became a bit of a waiting game. A few people from various teams were sitting and talking quietly as they waited, since it was going to take longer than expected, and the cold night air and relentless wind had everyone huddling a bit closer to each other.

Hinata was working on the Nekoma first years now, and each turn was almost up to a minute and a half. They had four teams to get down, but it didn’t matter. This was their only option, and even if it took hours, they’d get everyone down.

However, everyone’s thoughts were interrupted by a startlingly loud and sudden siren.

Hinata jumped as he let go of Lev who was the next to go down and looked around wildly, yelling, “What is that?!”

Suga gulped and responded nervously, “Maybe it’s just a delayed signal from our escape?”

But Kuroo quickly added, “But we shut off the power. How and _why_ would it be sounding now?”

Kenma looked over the edge to see that there was a red light blinking from one of the floors below, but he couldn’t pinpoint which one.

The siren continued to blare, putting them all on edge, but Daichi was quick to announce, “Let’s just keep going. There’s nothing we can do about it, so it’s best to get everyone down fa-”

“It’s a bomb.”

Everyone turned to where Tendou was sitting against the curb of the roof, looking forward as if in a trance.

“What?” Tanaka was the first to ask.

Finally, Tendou turned to look at them and repeated, “It’s a bomb. I saw this. A couple of nights ago. Dr. Akiya set a bomb to destroy the place.”

Tsukishima’s nails dug into his palms from Yamaguchi’s side. Now he knew what Akiya was talking about before he killed him. He knew he was going to die, so he sent out all of his research and set a bomb to destroy everything and everyone.

“Well did you happen to see how we can shut it off?” Yaku asked in a panic.

Tendou shook his head solemnly.

“Of course,” the Nekoma libero deadpanned.

“Shit,” Kuroo cursed quietly, then asked, “Do you know how long we have?”

Tendou closed his eyes and thought back to the broken visions he’d been having, when he opened them again, they didn’t look hopeful.

“Five minutes.”

“What?!” Noya yelled, even as he shivered from where he was pressed into Asahi.

Everyone became panicked at Tendou’s words, especially Hinata, who looked like he was about to throw up at any second.

“Five minutes?” Hinata asked weakly.

“It’s okay Hinata,” Suga calmed the other, “We know it’s not possible to get everyone down and away from the building in five minutes. We’ll think of something else.”

“But what?!” Tanaka yelled, “We have to shut that bomb off!”

“We don’t even know where it is!” Kageyama added.

“Calm down! Calm down, we’ll think of something,” Daichi tried to calm everyone, but he sounded equally panicked himself.

Kuroo gripped his hair in frustration and looked at Kenma whose eyes were wide in fear despite trying to appear calm.

“If I knew where it was, I could touch it to see how to turn it off,” Kuroo said as he gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn’t find it in time.

“We probably have less than four minutes now! How can we find it by then!” Bokuto yelled hurriedly, looking to Akaashi for answers. But the setter looked just as pained as Bokuto.

Yamaguchi looked around at the panicked and hopeless faces around him and felt tears fill his eyes. 

He couldn’t watch all of his friends die. It couldn’t end like that. But even as he thought over everyone’s abilities, including his own which he didn’t know how to control, there was no way to find the bomb in time and shut it down.

Hinata pulled on Suga’s shirt again and asked, “What should we do? Should I keep bringing people down?”

Suga looked around in desperation, thinking about what they could do, but he didn’t have any solution, so he answered, “No, no it’s okay, Hinata. We’ll think of something.”

The seconds ticked by and there was a sudden shift from panic to despair. Yamaguchi saw it in Asahi’s face as he looked around at his teammates. He saw it in Tendou’s eyes as he watched Ushijima quietly, a devastatingly wistful look in his eyes.

“Yaku-san?” Lev asked quietly, as quiet as the first year has ever been, as he looked over at the libero, “What’s going to happen?”

For the first time since his team has known him, they saw Yaku’s eyes filled with tears. He gripped his hands in tight fists and fought the tears coming out, before throwing his arms around Lev and hugging him tightly. He couldn’t answer him.

By the time that people started hugging in a last desperate attempt to stay together, Yamaguchi felt an emptiness in his chest.

Kageyama was yelling at Hinata to teleport out of there, to get as far away as he could so at least he’d make it. But Hinata wasn’t having any of it.

“No way! You think I’m leaving you all!” the smaller boy yelled.

“Yes! You have to go! You can get out of here! Hurry, just go!” Kageyama yelled back, grabbing the other boy by the shoulders and trying to push him as if he could force him to teleport to safety.

“No!”

Hinata suddenly wrapped his arms around Kageyama tightly, and squeezed him in a desperate hug until the pair ended up in tears as they held onto each as tight as possible.

On the other side of the roof, Yamaguchi watched as the Nekoma captain talked quietly with Kenma, eyes shiny as he held onto the other’s hands tightly. He saw as he carefully cupped Kenma’s face and heard the quiet words he gave the other.

“Kenma- Kenma I..I-” 

“I know,” the setter interrupted before a tiny smile came over his face, and he added, “I didn’t really need telepathy to know that.”

A tight smile came over Kuroo’s face at that, and Yamaguchi watched as the pair ended up in each other’s arms as well. He felt his own heart break at the sight.

All around him, he saw his friends saying goodbye to each other. Suga and Daichi were looking over the team with pain in their eyes as they held hands tightly. Noya and Tanaka gave each other a tight hug before moving on to others. Bokuto gave Kuroo a tearful hug before letting go as well.

He watched it all, and he couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t say goodbye to them. He couldn’t say goodbye to Tsukki. 

Tsukki. 

He couldn’t say goodbye to him. He couldn’t stand by as he died. It just couldn’t happen, he couldn’t let-

“Yamaguchi.”

With tears falling down his cheeks, Yamaguchi looked over to his side where Tsukki was, expecting to see the other boy wearing a resigned or even tearful expression. But what he saw was very different than he expected. 

Tsukishima looked determined.

“Yamaguchi,” the blonde repeated and grabbed the freckled boy’s arms to turn him towards him, before saying, “Akiteru’s ability.”

Yamaguchi shook his head slightly as he took in what the other boy said.

“W-what? What about Akiteru?” he asked, confused as to why Tsukishima was bringing up his brother right now.

“His ability! Use Akiteru’s ability!” the blonde said, more urgent now, and added, “I’m sure you have it. If you can use his ability, you could easily shut off the bomb!”

Akiteru’s ability. He...he had the ability to manipulate time. He could slow time. And if it were enhanced, he could slow it enough to where time appeared to stop.

He could stop time. And he could stop the bomb.

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened as he peered into Tsukki’s honeyed ones.

“But...but Tsukki! I don’t know how to trigger it!” Yamaguchi cried, looking at the other desperately, “I don’t know what causes it, or how to control it, or-”

“Tadashi.”

Tsukishima cupped Yamaguchi’s face in both of his hands, and looked at him with shining eyes.

“Tadashi. I…”

Yamaguchi watched mesmerized as Tsukki swallowed laboredly and a tear fell down his cheek as he blinked.

He really did look a lot younger without his glasses, Yamaguchi thought absentmindedly.

“I can’t…You have to know. You have to. I’ve always...”

Suddenly, Tsukki pulled Yamaguchi forward and pressed their foreheads together. Yamaguchi watched the other’s face as his eyes were shut tight and the wind blew through both of their hair.

Then the other said, “Just try to look.”

Yamaguchi watched the other’s closed eyes in confusion as their foreheads pressed together. He didn’t know what Tsukki was talking about, he couldn’t control his abilities, and they were running out of time and-

Suddenly, something appeared in his mind. It was like when you remember an old memory and you can see it playing out in your head. 

Except this wasn’t his memory. It was Tsukki’s.

_“Kei? What have you got there?”_

_A young Tsukishima Kei turned around abruptly and hid the item he held behind his back. He was blushing from head to toe with wide eyes, and Akiteru couldn’t help but laugh at the reaction._

_“What?” Akiteru chuckled, “Is it a secret or something?”_

_Kei pouted at his brother’s words and looked down at his feet before grumbling, “No...it’s just…”_

_Slowly, he took out a little card which was all decorated and had carefully written words on it._

_As Akiteru looked closer he saw that it looked like a Valentine’s day card. It had cute hearts all over the front and even little handmade drawings on the inside. Yet, the most interesting feature was Tadashi’s name written with the utmost care on the outside._

_Akiteru’s heart melted as he realized what it was and he resisted the urge to put a hand over his heart._

_“Kei, did you make a Valentine’s day card for Tadashi?” he asked fondly._

_Reddening even further, the blonde boy quickly hid the card back behind his back and mumbled, “No, that’s not what it is, it’s just- it’s…”_

_Akiteru smiled and sat down on Kei’s bed before encouraging the other to do the same. As the younger boy sat down, Akiteru smiled calmingly and said, “You can give Tadashi a card if you want you know. In fact, I bet he would be thrilled if you gave him one. He might even be planning to give you one too.”_

_“Really?” Kei asked quietly._

_“Definitely,” Akiteru affirmed with a smile, adding, “And if you ever need to talk about anything, I’m right here.”_

_After a pause, Akiteru smirked and teased, “Is that why it smells like cookies? Did you make cookies for Tadashi-kun too? Awww that’s so cute Kei!”_

_Kei pushed his brother away in annoyance and glared at the other, trying to come off as cool. But Akiteru only laughed and ruffled his hair before leaving._

_Akiteru may have known about the card, but he didn’t know about what was in the card. It was the truth. The truth about his feelings. Something that Kei never thought he would do in his wildest imagination, but he also never thought he would have a friend either._

_As difficult as it was to actually write the card, it would be ten times more difficult to give it to Yamaguchi. Yet, his brother’s words helped him a lot, and he felt better knowing that Yamaguchi might even give him one._

_So, the next day at school, Kei had carefully prepared the card to present to Yamaguchi, feeling nervous but not showing it in the slightest. He wore his usually unbothered expression, even at such a young age, and walked up to where Yamaguchi was sitting after class had ended._

_With the card in his pocket, he approached the other and said, “Hey Yamaguchi, I have something for you.”_

_“Really?!” the small freckled boy exclaimed, a wide smile showing off a missing tooth, then added, “I have something for you too Tsukki!”_

_Quickly, Yamaguchi pulled out a little card with dinosaurs and hearts on it, and handed it to Kei with the brightest smile on his face._

_Kei gingerly took the card and couldn’t stop the smile that came over his face, no matter how hard he tried._

_Nii-chan was right, Yamaguchi gave him a card. He made this for Kei, and maybe that meant he might even like him. He was special to Yamaguchi, just like how-_

_His thoughts were interrupted by a voice._

_“Hey Yamaguchi! Thanks for the card and chocolates!”_

_Kei’s head whipped around to find another student in their class holding up a card with a smile._

_Another voice piped up behind them, “Yeah, thanks Yamaguchi! It’s super cute!”_

_Kei’s eyes widened as another student gave their thanks. As he looked around, he realized that Yamaguchi had given all the students in their class a card and candy. It wasn’t just for Kei._

_Slowly, Kei pushed the card he made deep into his pockets and swallowed._

_Yamaguchi doesn’t like him back. He’s just nice. He’s the nicest person Kei has ever met. Of course he would give cards to everyone._

_Yamaguchi looked back towards Kei with excitement in his eyes and grinned, asking, “So what is it you wanted to give me Tsukki?”_

_Crumpling the card in his pocket, he looked away from Yamaguchi’s smile and replied, “It’s just some cookies my mom made. You can have some after school if you want.”_

_In the end, he never gave Yamaguchi that card. Maybe it was silly, but to him it hurt. It confirmed every fear he had. Yamaguchi was friends with him because the smaller boy was the only one who could put up with him. He was the only one who listened to Kei’s boring obscure facts, the only one who was unbothered when Kei said nasty remarks._

_Yamaguchi didn’t like him, but he was his friend, and that was enough for Kei. So he won’t do anything to jeopardize that._

_He would remain friends with Yamaguchi, and he’d never let the other know how he felt. Because he couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt to lose one of the only things he cared about._

_But to this day, that card was still tucked away in a drawer in his room._

Yamaguchi’s eyes slowly fluttered open as the memory closed off to him. 

It was such an obscure memory. One that might not mean much to anyone else, but it meant everything to Yamaguchi. It changed years of memories. Years of not knowing.

He watched as Tsukishima’s eyes fluttered open as well, looking straight into the other’s eyes without moving away.

Then he saw as Tsukishima’s face changed into the softest expression he had ever seen the other wear, and felt him tuck his long overgrown hair behind his ear. The other had a heartbreakingly fond smile on his face as he murmured his next words.

“I’ve never thought for one moment that you weren’t special, Tadashi.”

With those words, Yamaguchi felt something shift inside of him. 

Every moment, every second that he felt like he wasn’t enough seemed to change. All those memories of never having a friend in class because he didn’t have an ability, or being bullied to the point that he would start crying at random times of the day without even realizing it, they vanished in his mind. 

Instead, they were replaced by memories of walking home with Tsukki everyday. Of Suga ruffling his hair on the sidelines. Of Hinata giving him a high-five after he landed his first float serve.

He may have never thought he was special, but the people who cared about him did, and that meant more than he could say.

As Yamaguchi watched the wind blow through the blonde boy’s hair, and felt it blow through his own, a smile came over his face. He knows what triggers his ability.

And then time stopped.

~

Tsukishima blinked rapidly as he came back to himself.

As he looked around, he saw that they were still on the roof. And while it was still dark out, the sky was just barely beginning to lighten, signaling that sunrise was coming soon. Everyone was still there, in the same spots they were before, but Yamaguchi wasn’t in front of him anymore.

Quickly, the blonde looked around him worriedly before a voice sounded out behind him.

“Tsukki.”

He turned to see Yamaguchi standing there with a small smile.

As he looked into the others eyes, he realized what had happened. 

He had done it. Tadashi had done it.

Without thinking, Tsukishima was suddenly wrapping his arms around the other boy, holding him as tight as possible with his nose buried in the other’s hair.

Yamaguchi held him just as tightly, and Tsukishima stayed silent as he felt the other shake slightly. He ran his hand through the hair at the back of the freckled boy’s head and whispered, “You did it. You did it Tadashi.”

The other boy’s shoulders shook harder and Tsukishima simply held him tighter. He didn’t even mind that his shirt was getting wet.

The others were beginning to take notice of the change now, and suddenly the pair were bombarded as they realized what had happened.

“Did Yamaguchi stop it?” Hinata asked with a bright smile, continuing, “He did, didn’t he?! He did it!”

Tanaka cheered _very_ loudly, startling the pair apart and causing a few others to laugh.

Everyone had erupted into celebration, the relief of the bomb being stopped filling the air. Suga ended up knocking Daichi over as he hugged him tightly, kissing him soundly once they were on the ground and earning a cheer from Noya who had jumped into Asahi’s arms. On the other side, Kuroo had picked up Kenma in a twirl, and no matter how much he tried to hide it, they could see the small smile on the setter’s face.

As Yamaguchi parted slightly from Tsukishima, still close enough that they held onto each other’s forearms, he laughed wetly and wiped away a few tears. 

The others were making their way over, and Bokuto suddenly pulled Yamaguchi out of Tsukishima’s arms and lifted him into the air celebratorily, much to the displeasure of the blonde.

“Oi,” Tsukishima muttered, but Yamaguchi was simply laughing as Bokuto lifted him, and Tsukishima felt his heart ease at seeing that smile back on Yamaguchi’s face.

Thankfully, Akaashi had come over as well, calmly asking, “Bokuto-san, please put him down.”

Bokuto pouted but put the freckled boy down gently, before Kuroo also came over to them and gave Yamaguchi a slap on the back as he grinned, “Nice job Freckles.”

Yamaguchi smiled and gave a little nervous bow in thanks, still overwhelmed by how happy he felt.

He was surrounded by his friends and fellow players. They were all safe. He couldn’t be more thankful.

As Tanaka gave him a tight squeeze as well which lifted him off the ground slightly, he saw Suga coming over and giving him a smile. Yet, there was a sad hint to that smile that Yamaguchi didn’t understand.

The third year came up to him next, and grabbed the other’s arms gently. Yamaguchi could see his eyes were teary as well, and even though they were safe, he still looked oddly distraught.

“You stopped it, Yamaguchi,” Suga began with a watery smile, continuing, “I...I’m _so_ proud of you.”

Yamaguchi tried to give the other a bright smile but it was hard with the threat of more tears, and as he swallowed around a lump in his throat, Suga pulled him into a gentle hug.

The third year held the younger boy close and whispered into his hair, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi pulled back in surprise and looked at the other with wide eyes as he shook his head, “No Suga-san, you did everything-”

“No,” Suga stopped him, “I’m really sorry...I was so distracted by everything else, and I thought you would be fine with Tsukishima, but-”

The other suddenly paused as he tried to get the words out. 

“Just...please don’t ever think that it’s because we don’t care about you as much. You’re not a substitute Yamaguchi. Not to us.”

Yamaguchi felt his heart clench at that statement, and couldn’t stop his eyes refilling with tears. 

As he watched his teammates and the other players hug each other and cry tears of happiness, he felt something that was unfamiliar to him. He felt like...he had worth. He hasn’t felt that in a long time.

He had done it. He saved them.

As the excitement settled down and everyone basked in the knowledge that there was no imminent danger, they turned back to escaping.

It was much easier now that Yamaguchi could better control his ability. They all safely made it to the ground with no issues before turning their attention to their new surroundings. It appeared that they were in the middle of nowhere. There were no buildings in sight, so that took away their plan to walk to the nearest building. 

But thankfully, a quick look around the building revealed large vehicles that they could easily turn on with the help of Kageyama’s current ability.

They had to take multiple cars due to how many of them there were, but they promised to follow each other closely until the next city.

Yamaguchi was in a large car with Tsukishima sitting next to him currently. Daichi was driving with Suga in the passenger seat, and it was quiet. Only the hum of the car could be heard in the quiet of the night, and most everyone in the car was falling asleep.

Behind him Noya was asleep across Asahi’s lap, and in front of him Hinata was drooling on Kageyama’s shoulder, but the setter didn’t seem to mind very much.

A sleepy smile came over Yamaguchi’s face as he watched them, his own eyelids drooping slightly. They were safe, and he felt like he could breathe.

He glanced over to find Tsukishima looking similarly tired as the blonde watched the landscape pass them as they drove.

The sun was beginning to rise now, and the peaceful glow of dawn haloed Tsukishima, highlighting lighter bits of blonde in his hair and giving his skin a soft appearance. Yamaguchi watched the other with a drowsy smile before carefully slipping his hand into the other’s.

Tsukishima looked down at their hands quickly before meeting Yamaguchi’s eyes. When Yamaguchi just smiled at him, Tsukishima gave him a soft smile as well and squeezed his hand.

The hum of the car continued, and Yamaguchi quietly whispered, “We’ll have to get you new glasses.”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima replied softly, never looking away from Yamaguchi as he added, “I really liked those ones though.”

They were the ones Yamaguchi had picked when they went to the optometrist together.

The freckled boy ran his thumb over the other’s hand and replied, “We can pick out even better ones.”

Tsukishima simply squeezed his hand almost imperceptibly and leaned into the other. In turn, Yamaguchi put his head on the other’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

They sleepily watched the sun completely rise together as Daichi drove, leaning on each other and holding hands. Yamaguchi felt more at peace than he could ever remember.

His eyes slowly shut until he fell into an untroubled sleep, and the next time he woke up, it was to the skyline of a distant city.

They could finally go home.

~

_One Month Later_

“Tanaka! If you set one more ball on fire, I swear to god-”

“It wasn’t my fault! Asahi disappeared for a second and it scared me!”

Daichi rubbed his forehead in resignation and sighed, turning his attention away from Tanaka before calling another time out and heading to the sidelines.

When he arrived, Suga offered him a water bottle with an amused smile that did nothing to make Daichi feel better.

It had only been a month since they’d returned home, and it hasn’t been easy to adjust. After they arrived at the nearest city possible, they were able to get to law enforcement and tell them who they were and what happened to them. Evidently, it wasn’t hard to believe, because everyone had been looking for the boys for awhile now. 

Apparently, after the training camp, their parents and teachers were told that there was a huge accident at the training camp, and that the teams attending were missing now. There was absolutely no evidence as to where they could have gone, and law enforcement has been looking for them ever since.

Thankfully, they were able to tell them about everything they’d been through and that there were still students at that facility. Soon after, the facility was found and all the students were saved, yet there were no traces of any staff members there. No living ones at least.

Taking the offered water bottle, Daichi looked over his players and sighed again, saying, “This was all a lot simpler when the extent of Noya’s power was a little extra power in his receives. Now look at him.”

The small libero was currently chasing Tanaka with the threat of a sharp shock and the other was yelling back with threats that he was going to set him on fire.

Daichi grimaced as he watched them, only to hear Suga laugh next to him.

“Yeah,” the other chuckled and added, “We’ll have to find a way to train them to not use their abilities in a game now. But you have to admit, Hinata and Kageyama are getting better.”

As he said this, they heard Kageyama yell out, “Hinata! You have to go to the other side idiot!”

“I did go to the other side!” the smaller boy yelled back, adding, “If you think it’s so easy you do it!”

Just as Daichi predicted, Kageyama grabbed the other boy and in an instant Hinata’s ability was transferred.

Hinata looked shocked for a moment before whining out, “Daichi! Kageyama took my ability again!”

The pair began wrestling before Daichi could even respond, and the Karasuno captain eventually just turned around and continued drinking his water.

Suga laughed as he watched Hinata demand for a hug after Kageyama accidentally whacked the other boy in the head while they wrestled, which the setter eventually obliged to.

“Well,” Suga sighed amusedly before looking at the other side of the court where Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were talking quietly during their break.

“It’s not all bad I suppose.”

Yamaguchi squished his bag together as he tried to zip it closed completely, struggling to pull the zipper over all of his books.

“C’mon Yamaguchi, let’s go.”

Yamaguchi finally got the zipper pulled up all the way and gave a victorious grin before running out of the locker room, shouting, “Coming Tsukki!”

He sidled up to the taller boy with a smile and they began their walk home, Yamaguchi sparing a few waves to the other players as they left.

“Do you want to stop at the shop?” Tsukishima asked him once they were past the school gates, adding, “I want something sweet.”

“Hmm,” Yamaguchi pretended to consider before replying, “Maybe...but I want fries!”

“Ukai doesn’t run a fast food chain, Yamaguchi,” the other teased with a soft smile that seemed to be there more and more nowadays.

“Then I guess we’re not going to Ukai’s shop,” Yamaguchi teased back.

Tsukishima snickered before intertwining his hand with Yamaguchi’s, replying, “Then I guess we can’t have a movie marathon together.”

“Tsukki no!” Yamaguchi whined as he positioned himself in front of the taller boy and began walking backwards.

Tsukishima gave him that amused smile he often did now and pulled the other into a loose hug before quickly kissing his cheek.

“Just kidding. We can get your greasy, flaccid fries and then have the marathon.”

Yamaguchi giggled as they continued walking, replying, “Did you have to use that terminology? And you’re the one who planned the marathon. As much as I enjoy dinosaurs, I don’t often watch documentaries about them seven hours at a time by myself.”

Tsukishima’s face reddened the slightest bit before mumbling, “And? Neither do I.”

“You know I can read your mind, right Tsukki?”

“Oh yeah?” Tsukishima said undisturbed, but added, “And what is it saying?”

Yamaguchi squinted at the other suspiciously before the other’s thoughts were transferred over.

_No fries._

Yamaguchi gasped and grabbed the other’s arm pleadingly, crying out in affront, “Tsukki!”

The taller boy began laughing audibly, covering his mouth with his other hand as if he could hide his laughs. Then as he continued to chuckle he pulled them both to a stop, facing Yamaguchi’s pout.

Softly smiling at the freckled boy’s pouty expression, he brought a hand to Yamaguchi’s face and ran a thumb over his frown lines in an attempt to wipe them away.

“Just kidding,” Tsukishima said warmly, face close to the other’s and eyes fond. Then, he quietly added, “Try again.”

Yamaguchi leaned into the other’s palm and waited for his mind to focus. 

He closed his eyes, and when the thoughts transferred over, a smile slowly grew over Yamaguchi’s face.

Slowly, Yamaguchi wrapped his arms around Tsukishima’s waist and smiled into the taller boy’s chest. He felt the other’s arms wrap around him as well, and as they stood there enjoying the feeling of each other, Yamaguchi quietly whispered, “I love you too, Tsukki.”

Then before he pulled away he added, “But remember that I can teleport you to Hinata’s house or control your mind at any time, so don’t underestimate me.”

Tsukishima snickered into Yamaguchi’s hair and pulled back before softly pressing a quick kiss to his lips, responding shortly, “I never did.”

The pair walked to Tsukishima’s house like they had a million times before, understanding that while things were different, there were many things that had always been there. 

Yamaguchi would still have to struggle to get over the feeling that he wasn’t enough. He still had to get over a lifetime of thinking that he would never be the protagonist, not even in his own story. 

But he imagined that knowing he had friends who loved him and believed in him would make that struggle just a little bit easier.

And as his childhood friend tightly held onto his hand, he thought maybe it was possible that he could write his own story. One where he was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is :’)
> 
> Oh my goodness, okay. So, this fic is essentially my love letter to all of the Yamaguchi's in the world. Even though I’ve never struggled with this myself, I have a huge soft spot for characters who have been bullied or don't have confidence. No one deserves to be treated like they’re less, especially if they’re as good-hearted as Yamaguchi :’) And yes, the abilities are a metaphor for Yamaguchi’s lack of confidence and general feelings of not being cared for.
> 
> But anyways, I’d like to thank you all so so so much for reading this and commenting on this, I can’t tell you how much it means to me!!! And special thanks to those of you who have been commenting on nearly every chapter, I know exactly who you are and you are angels from above <3<3<3
> 
> Once again, thank you everyone you are the best, and if you'd like please leave a comment! :D
> 
> <3


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